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> disqualifying statements for anyone above associate level engineering. Only if you're an engineer. The Silicon Valley folks love this sort of lawless disrega

> disqualifying statements for anyone above associate level engineering. Only if you're an engineer. The Silicon Valley folks love this sort of lawless disregard for wider society.

afavour 1y ago
I'm not even talking about the wider societal implications. I mean the job of being a software engineer, including in SV. "I knowingly wrote code riddled with mistakes and didn't ever look into how it's being used" is, IMO, disqualifying. The latter more than the former in many ways, being a good engineer above entry level is a lot more than just bashing out code, you need to be understanding the context in which your code operates. It would be one thing if we were talking about a fresh out of college newbie. But Lavingia was employee #2 at Pinterest and founded Gumroad. It appears he learned absolutely nothing in either place.
- delusional 1y ago
  Let me clarify. I agree with you. My point is rather that Silicon Valley bros WONT agree with us. To them it's fine actually if some veterans didn't get healthcare and die, because they don't matter in their grand scheme. I believe, as a ground truth, that good engineering requires working in the real world. Silicon valley guys do not. They believe their responsibility start and end at the computer. I understand this sounds extreme, I think so too, but it is the only explanation that explains their fascination with "long-termism". A philosophy that any harm now is justified if it has even a .1% chance of doing something very good in the long term.
  - xg15 1y ago
    > A philosophy that any harm now is justified if it has even a .1% chance of doing something very good in the long term. Even then, our descendants, who'd finally have the privilege to live in that faraway future that we sacrificed everything in the present for - they'd also be obligated to treat their present as a disposable resource in service of an even further away future. If you took the "philosophy" at face value, it would actually guarantee that the entire future of humanity will be miserable. But we'll colonize space and number in the trillions. Yay...
collingreen 1y ago
I live in Silicon Valley and I don't love lawless disregard for wider society.

> disqualifying statements for anyone above associate level engineering. Only if you're an engineer. The Silicon Valley folks love this sort of lawless disregard for wider society.

afavour 1y ago

I'm not even talking about the wider societal implications. I mean the job of being a software engineer, including in SV. "I knowingly wrote code riddled with mistakes and didn't ever look into how it's being used" is, IMO, disqualifying. The latter more than the former in many ways, being a good engineer above entry level is a lot more than just bashing out code, you need to be understanding the context in which your code operates. It would be one thing if we were talking about a fresh out of college newbie. But Lavingia was employee #2 at Pinterest and founded Gumroad. It appears he learned absolutely nothing in either place.

delusional 1y ago
Let me clarify. I agree with you. My point is rather that Silicon Valley bros WONT agree with us. To them it's fine actually if some veterans didn't get healthcare and die, because they don't matter in their grand scheme. I believe, as a ground truth, that good engineering requires working in the real world. Silicon valley guys do not. They believe their responsibility start and end at the computer. I understand this sounds extreme, I think so too, but it is the only explanation that explains their fascination with "long-termism". A philosophy that any harm now is justified if it has even a .1% chance of doing something very good in the long term.
- xg15 1y ago
  > A philosophy that any harm now is justified if it has even a .1% chance of doing something very good in the long term. Even then, our descendants, who'd finally have the privilege to live in that faraway future that we sacrificed everything in the present for - they'd also be obligated to treat their present as a disposable resource in service of an even further away future. If you took the "philosophy" at face value, it would actually guarantee that the entire future of humanity will be miserable. But we'll colonize space and number in the trillions. Yay...

collingreen 1y ago

I live in Silicon Valley and I don't love lawless disregard for wider society.