5 ms·
This is oddly cool a hip, alternative and artistic kind of way. The philosophical motivations for their projects sound dreamlike to me, almost like ideological
by kubb 5y ago
This is oddly cool a hip, alternative and artistic kind of way. The philosophical motivations for their projects sound dreamlike to me, almost like ideological activism, enough that it'd make you feel that the work that you're doing gives your life some sort of unique meaning. I envy this lifestyle of adventure and creative expression, an idea for a more fulfilling human experience that I somehow know I can never have, but I don't really understand why.
- analognoise 5y agoCounterpoint: Dreamlike hipsterism is utility 0 navel gazing; there's nothing inherently transcendent about computing. You'd do more for the world at a local food bank; it's slacktivism and virtue signaling of the worst kind to see electronic baubles as transcendent or somehow worthy of permanence, the kind of naivete the bubble of Web 1.0 popping should have destroyed, or the misinformation campaigns of the last election, or the latest data breach should have destroyed. If you want artistic sensibility, fine. But pretending a personal crusade to make permanent computers you can build as an undergrad sophomore is somehow a noble cause is pretending your hobby is cosmic in importance and utterly delusional. It's like people who bloviate about GPL licenses: you can tell they've never gone to bed hungry.
- tommica 5y agoSometimes naivete is what allows a person to create something that no one else thought was possible.
- ddingus 5y agoI agree, and through that dynamic, we have a rich field of exploration / experimentation to draw from. Just look at all the lessons to be learned from systems of the past. And what can actually be done on them!
- tomcooks 5y agoI can't find in the text where they're pretending a personal crusade of any kind, let alone any virtue signaling aside from not wasting too much solar battery on tech. Why are you giving so much importance to something you despise so much? They live rent free in your head?
- codezero 5y agoI agree with everything you said, and at the same time, holding those beliefs early in my career held me back immensely. I regret not befriending those strange folks and getting some of that delusional energy, it's useful sometimes, and now, I think, more often than I would have predicted when I was younger. TLDR; avoid personal dogma in tech, or don't, I'm not your dad, and who's he to tell you what to do anyways?
- tomxor 5y agoAgreed, I view projects like this as important experiments and inspiration for the wider community. It's good to have people around that are willing to try out implementing lofty and idealogical ideas - even if it ultimately fails at it's intended goals directly, they occasionally spawn the most uniquely valuable unintentional gifts to civilisation.
- ddingus 5y agoI feel a similar way. As far as adventures go, I can sometimes find time to do a project on old or simple gear.