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>Isn't this a fairly trivial insight though? >Same as saying that everything anyone, or any organization, does is political. The are both trivial (e.g. post-mo

>Isn't this a fairly trivial insight though? >Same as saying that everything anyone, or any organization, does is political. The are both trivial (e.g. post-modernism) and non-trivial (e.g. McLuhan, Postman, Ellul) versions of this idea. They have vastly different implications. All software engineers would benefit from at least some understanding of the non-trivial versions. For example, I've heard many engineers seriously suggest that it would be for the benefit of the whole society if traditional publishing would collapse and be completely replaced by self-publishing on Amazon. When they say that they have all the imagined benefits right in front of their mind's eye. (Everyone can publish! Cheap books! Fast/digital delivery!) Simultaneously, it's blatantly obvious that they haven't spent even a minute thinking about what that would lead to. (Hypercentralization. Turning books from artefacts to services. Complete demolition of the highly evolved ecosystem that produced good books in the past.) This is how tech people are trained to think. Extend this example. Search for some articles or comments debating eReaders. Pretty much none of them ever consider anything beyond the immediate tactile experience and convenience. I mean, even people who argue in favor of physical books.

MichaelZuo 4y ago
Well that is understandable since most people are, at best, amateurs outside of their field of expertise, and sometimes within too. But thankfully not everyone's opinion is of equal competence nor should they be treated as if they were of equal competence. And we don't have to spend much time worrying about these folks. For example, if thousands in positions of importance started advocating to replace the publishing industry that would be worrying. But I highly doubt several thousand disgruntled junior folks could destroy the publishing industry, even if they combined their efforts and committed their all to it. And I would bet very few of these folks would ever climb into positions of real importance so they aren't much of a latent threat either.

MichaelZuo 4y ago

Well that is understandable since most people are, at best, amateurs outside of their field of expertise, and sometimes within too. But thankfully not everyone's opinion is of equal competence nor should they be treated as if they were of equal competence. And we don't have to spend much time worrying about these folks. For example, if thousands in positions of importance started advocating to replace the publishing industry that would be worrying. But I highly doubt several thousand disgruntled junior folks could destroy the publishing industry, even if they combined their efforts and committed their all to it. And I would bet very few of these folks would ever climb into positions of real importance so they aren't much of a latent threat either.