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I think it's a credit to the CS community that computer scientists actually ask this question. I'm an electrical engineer and I left a career in oil/gas to do
by vitaminj 15y ago
I think it's a credit to the CS community that computer scientists actually ask this question.
I'm an electrical engineer and I left a career in oil/gas to do something "good" with my skills. A few of my former colleagues used to ruminate about whether they could be doing something more meaningful in their professional lives. Of course, there were also those who had no qualms whatsoever about the oil/gas industry, that it was a noble goal to provide the world with energy (and FWIW, this is a perspective that I respect even though I don't share it).
But the overwhelming majority of my colleagues hadn't even thought about it, nor did they really care. The job afforded them a very comfortable living, enough for them to fulfil most of their material aspirations. And frankly, that's enough for most people.
Of course, existential crises probably happen to these people once in a while, but only to be forgotten the next day. My suspicion is that in the main, most people just aren't very introspective. So I applaud the CS community for actually bringing this issue up and discussing it openly.