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Yes, the construction of a ballpoint pen could be made romantic. But I mean...it's pretty incredible how many humans collaborate to produce the ballpoint pen, m
by typest 6y ago
Yes, the construction of a ballpoint pen could be made romantic. But I mean...it's pretty incredible how many humans collaborate to produce the ballpoint pen, millions of individuals cooperating in countless ways, producing an essential implement which is greater than the sum of its parts. No one involved could tell you exactly how the pen is made, and yet it's sold at a price so low we never think about it. There is a famous essay "I, Pencil" that details, and indeed romanticizes, this exact process.
You could cynically state that all aspects of civilization are incredible, so therefore nothing is. Or you could back up and marvel at the fact that out of nothing came something, out of an unthinking universe came self aware humans that literally took rocks out of the ground and reconstructed them so that they would think for us, and that we then used those thinking-rocks to cure diseases, enable near-instantaneous communication anywhere in the world, and literally launch people off this planet.
I would advise you to try thinking in the latter style, as life is more fun that way.
- eigenhombre 6y agoAn upside of programming is that you can build something useful, by yourself. Some of my favorite programs are ones I wrote and use every day. They're not amazing programs, but they do the job and they did not exist before I wrote them. I wonder if a home-created ballpoint pen, that worked well, wouldn't feel a bit more magical or romantic than the one you get for free at the hotel or bank. Having made, for example, my own paint, prior to use, I can attest that doing so feels "magical" in a similar way that programming does.
- tonyedgecombe 6y agoThe Ikea effect[1]. People do value things they built themselves, even if the building part only requires an allen key. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect
- ianmcgowan 6y agoSometimes it makes me dizzy - you pick up some ordinary thing, and suddenly marvel at all the people, all the work and effort, that goes into making the most mundane things. Odes to Common Things is a reminder of how amazing the universe is - the natural and the things we create. “A book, a book full of human touches, of shirts, a book without loneliness, with men and tools, a book is victory.” ― Pablo Neruda, Odes to Common Things
- saagarjha 6y agoOf course, the relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1741/ https://xkcd.com/1741/