4 ms·

Pretty easy to complain in your ivory tower when these engineers are actually trying to do something to fix the problems you’re talking about.

• ideamotor 4y ago
  My ivory tower? You are definitely going to have to be a lot more specific.
  • lawrenceyan 4y ago
    > But this takes policy change, and engineers not only cannot independently make that fix in a democracy; they think they know better than democracy because they know how to program a car in a simulated road in abstraction. That came off as abrasive, I apologize. I think the point I'm trying to make is that instead of denigrating engineers trying their best to solve problems, which in my opinion, is largely negative sum / leads to stagnation, we should be cultivating positive sum thinking. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.
    • ideamotor 4y ago
      I agree insofar that the engineering solutions are not designed to diminish commons or otherwise add to the problem. Also, I find my criticism analogous to yours in that my other main point is how engineers promote their solutions as alternatives to a “broken” system, and this pessimism is negative sum thinking which is highly destructive politically. Finally, I’m an engineer who works on these problems in ways that meet these criteria; not an academic or policy maker.