4 ms·

You don’t see how someone might have a visceral reaction to the prospect of being automated out of a job? Especially for those people living in countries with w

You don’t see how someone might have a visceral reaction to the prospect of being automated out of a job? Especially for those people living in countries with weak or no social nets? Plus, for a lot of us programming as it’s done now is a big part of our identity, and it’s understandable how people might feel uncomfortable about something that casts uncertainty about our place in the future. The historical Luddites were not anti-tech. They were lashing out against automation reducing their status in society and financial security

gregjor 5y ago
I can understand a person taking seriously the possibility that they will lose their job to automation. I live in a country with a weak social safety net (United States). If programming is "a big part" of your identity, get help for that. People work to make money. We are all in charge of our career choices, and we should pay attention to changes that might affect our work future. Having been in the programming business for four decades I've had to pay attention to the possibility that my job would get outsourced overseas -- that was a big thing a couple of decades ago, though it never happened to me because I made sure my skills weren't easily outsourced overseas or fobbed off on juniors with less experience. Getting worried, feeling uncomfortable, having a "visceral reaction" won't do any good. Nor will trying to push back against progress. What will do some good is paying attention to actual trends that affect your career, and figure out what you can safely ignore (like AI writing production code anytime soon). Everyone who doesn't want to end up out of a job has to continually adjust their skills and career path. None of us has a guaranteed "place in the future," it's up to us to position ourselves for reasonably likely futures.

gregjor 5y ago

I can understand a person taking seriously the possibility that they will lose their job to automation. I live in a country with a weak social safety net (United States). If programming is "a big part" of your identity, get help for that. People work to make money. We are all in charge of our career choices, and we should pay attention to changes that might affect our work future. Having been in the programming business for four decades I've had to pay attention to the possibility that my job would get outsourced overseas -- that was a big thing a couple of decades ago, though it never happened to me because I made sure my skills weren't easily outsourced overseas or fobbed off on juniors with less experience. Getting worried, feeling uncomfortable, having a "visceral reaction" won't do any good. Nor will trying to push back against progress. What will do some good is paying attention to actual trends that affect your career, and figure out what you can safely ignore (like AI writing production code anytime soon). Everyone who doesn't want to end up out of a job has to continually adjust their skills and career path. None of us has a guaranteed "place in the future," it's up to us to position ourselves for reasonably likely futures.