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I personally think society has come to the stage where its clear that problems are no longer solvable in a technological way, or by more advanced technology/sci

I personally think society has come to the stage where its clear that problems are no longer solvable in a technological way, or by more advanced technology/science. That dream is gone. For me, this makes programming feel more like a means to make money and survive, than something exciting that could change the world for good. Presidential candidates still desperately try to rake up foregone "moon base" dreams, invoking the nostalgia for yesterday's future, which says enough.... "we" used to think that in the 80's, 90's, that somehow advanced technology would also advance people, to look at the sky instead of grabbing what they shortsightedly can. Series like Star Trek are an example of that hope in culture. But people did not change a bit. Open source/free culture is still exciting to me, but the "brave new frontier" that computers and programming seemed to be is gone. It's lost part of its charm for me.

prodigal_erik 15y ago
We do have two related technological problems to solve: we are confined to a single biosphere one big rock (or maybe runaway greenhouse feedback) away from extinction, and peak oil will bring peak food (the green revolution hinges on petroleum). I don't know whether cold fusion researchers need better software than they have, but if they do we don't seem to have given them the resources to pay as much as more social mobile gamification of cat pictures. Boredom and unrest seem to be the problems we take most seriously lately.
- wladimir 15y ago
  Yes. Don't get me wrong, I think there are big challenges ahead for humanity, and some of those can only be addressed with advanced engineering, which, in turn, needs programming. But my paradox is: The biggest of dangers comes from people's use of technology as a means of control. A creeping surveillance state, soon to be autonomous killer drones, and that ugly old nuclear threat that keeps rearing its head. Due to fear of each other, the technological dream is turning into a nightmare. And a the hardware and software used there is built by people like you and me. There's a societal problem to be solved first, or maybe it should solve itself, and only that will bring responsible and sustainable use of technology. Or we'll kill each other, in video-game style (yay for gamification).

prodigal_erik 15y ago

We do have two related technological problems to solve: we are confined to a single biosphere one big rock (or maybe runaway greenhouse feedback) away from extinction, and peak oil will bring peak food (the green revolution hinges on petroleum). I don't know whether cold fusion researchers need better software than they have, but if they do we don't seem to have given them the resources to pay as much as more social mobile gamification of cat pictures. Boredom and unrest seem to be the problems we take most seriously lately.

wladimir 15y ago
Yes. Don't get me wrong, I think there are big challenges ahead for humanity, and some of those can only be addressed with advanced engineering, which, in turn, needs programming. But my paradox is: The biggest of dangers comes from people's use of technology as a means of control. A creeping surveillance state, soon to be autonomous killer drones, and that ugly old nuclear threat that keeps rearing its head. Due to fear of each other, the technological dream is turning into a nightmare. And a the hardware and software used there is built by people like you and me. There's a societal problem to be solved first, or maybe it should solve itself, and only that will bring responsible and sustainable use of technology. Or we'll kill each other, in video-game style (yay for gamification).