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I see lots of good points in these threads about macroeconomics and the pandemic, but I was surprised to not see more talk about tech specifically, or the bigge
by reilly3000 5y ago
I see lots of good points in these threads about macroeconomics and the pandemic, but I was surprised to not see more talk about tech specifically, or the bigger elephant in the room: remorse about being paid lavishly for work in the attention economy. We're living in a period of remarkable disinformation, and many of our employers profited from it. When your bread comes from pumping bile into people's brains it might lead one to considering something less destructive, more meaningful, and more sustainable. The sheen of SV was sullied, now its all secrets, leaks, congressional hearings, and spin doctors incanting. Tech was once magical in its appeal - not just about profit, but about transforming society to something more egalitarian and hopeful. The events of the last few years broke that spell.
- PragmaticPulp 5y ago> remorse about being paid lavishly for work in the attention economy. The vast majority of tech jobs are not working with consumer facing products. The companies that occupy the space on our phones and web browsers may seem like the majority of the tech world when it’s all you see every day, but it’s really a smaller fraction of everything going on in the world. There’s a lot of tech out there that doesn’t involve the small handful of companies that dominate social networking and entertainment apps.
- reilly3000 5y agoThat's a good point. I guess my point may be applied more broadly, i.e. I see a rise in social conscience about the impact of one's work. Somebody working in travel may become concerned about their climate impact. A robotics engineer may not want their work applied to weapon systems... et cetera. I've found it rather difficult to find a for-profit enterprise to employ me that doesn't have some ethical dilemma that comes along with the job.