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when someone behaves in a very predictable way I use to say "I could code you in C!". Well, turns out is Python!

ryandv 1y ago
[flagged]
qsort 1y ago
There's the old joke that many people who fear they could be replaced by AI are in fact too self-aggrandizing, they could be replaced by a 12-line python script. If you want to get a bit meaner, you could profitably replace some people with the empty python script.
- bgwalter 1y ago
  I remember the joke differently. I heard it first way before the "AI" craze from an Italian philosopher (the original program must have been recorded in the 1980s and then rebroadcast): "People who think they can be replaced by AI will be replaced." In other words, the cheerleaders are so dumb that they probably could be replaced.
  - PaulHoule 1y ago
    The classic book Remember me to God https://www.amazon.com/Remember-Me-to-God/dp/B000LQ2SHG https://www.amazon.com/Remember-Me-to-God/dp/B000LQ2SHG talks about how people in low social positions (say a Bank Teller) have no opportunities to distinguish themself but have opportunities to make mistakes that they'll be held accountable for. Whereas if you are in a high social position you get to grade your own paper, get credit for your successes, and "fail up" when you screw up. Given that neural networks get it wrong some of the kind they might be better to fill the high status positions (make up crazy stuff to say for Satya Nadella and Eric Schmidt for instance)
- emp17344 1y ago
  Weirdly misanthropic. Jobs exist for a reason - people who could be replaced by a python script already have been.
  - keybored 1y ago
    - I could program a person in C - They could be replaced by a 12-line Python script Predictably HN-misanthropic is more like it.
  - constantcrying 1y ago
    If you work in any large organization you know that there are people who exists so that other people can not do their jobs.
  - saagarjha 1y ago
    You’re assuming that companies are efficient at discovering which jobs these are.
    - emp17344 1y ago
      You’re making an assumption that you can effectively judge who contributes value to the business and who does not.
      - more_corn 1y ago
        Correct. For everyone’s sake I would hope this is possible.
      - saagarjha 1y ago
        Sometimes!
  - qsort 1y ago
    I'm joking, that wasn't meant to be serious commentary. I don't actually agree with the idea that most jobs are bullshit.
  - more_corn 1y ago
- deadbabe 1y ago
  Some people could be replaced with nothing at all.
  - palmotea 1y ago
    > Some people could be replaced with nothing at all. The kicker is it's often not the guy you think it is.
shagie 1y ago
Long ago... Think Geek T-shirt: "Go away or I will replace you with a very small shell script" https://web.archive.org/web/20081204045017/http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/frustrations/374d/ https://web.archive.org/web/20081204045017/http://www.thinkg...
- palmotea 1y ago
  > Long ago... Think Geek T-shirt: "Go away or I will replace you with a very small shell script" Whoever bought that shirt could probably use some social skills coaching. It's not a good idea to wear a shirt that indiscriminately broadcasts contempt in all directions. I get the purchasers probably confused it for humor, but there's an important difference between humor that works on a viewer TV show and and humor embedded in the interaction of you with another real person. I had this though recently at Walmart, after seeing the third such shirt (a visual pun meaning "fuck you"). Geeks often have the same attitude problems.
  - saagarjha 1y ago
    Ideally you pair the shirt with a personality that never leaves any doubt that it is a joke.
    - palmotea 1y ago
      > Ideally you pair the shirt with a personality that never leaves any doubt that it is a joke. Ideally, but that still doesn't really solve the problem. It's not really practical to counter an indiscriminate broadcast of contempt with point to point interactions. People who don't know you or don't know you well will always see your shirt, if you wear it out. You want to do the opposite: indiscriminately broadcast a kind personality, then deploy the sarcasm in point to point contexts "that never [leave] any doubt that it is a joke".
      - saagarjha 1y ago
        I think this is pretty unreasonable, though. Are you against the husband/wife “I’m with stupid/I’m stupid” shirts? Generally it’s pretty obvious this is meant as a joke and not that one spouse genuinely degrades the other in public.
atoav 1y ago
If someone pissed off our sysadmin he would say something among the lines of: "Quiet, you are aware I could replace you with a simple script?"

[flagged]

There's the old joke that many people who fear they could be replaced by AI are in fact too self-aggrandizing, they could be replaced by a 12-line python script. If you want to get a bit meaner, you could profitably replace some people with the empty python script.

bgwalter 1y ago
I remember the joke differently. I heard it first way before the "AI" craze from an Italian philosopher (the original program must have been recorded in the 1980s and then rebroadcast): "People who think they can be replaced by AI will be replaced." In other words, the cheerleaders are so dumb that they probably could be replaced.
- PaulHoule 1y ago
  The classic book Remember me to God https://www.amazon.com/Remember-Me-to-God/dp/B000LQ2SHG https://www.amazon.com/Remember-Me-to-God/dp/B000LQ2SHG talks about how people in low social positions (say a Bank Teller) have no opportunities to distinguish themself but have opportunities to make mistakes that they'll be held accountable for. Whereas if you are in a high social position you get to grade your own paper, get credit for your successes, and "fail up" when you screw up. Given that neural networks get it wrong some of the kind they might be better to fill the high status positions (make up crazy stuff to say for Satya Nadella and Eric Schmidt for instance)
emp17344 1y ago
Weirdly misanthropic. Jobs exist for a reason - people who could be replaced by a python script already have been.
- keybored 1y ago
  - I could program a person in C - They could be replaced by a 12-line Python script Predictably HN-misanthropic is more like it.
- constantcrying 1y ago
  If you work in any large organization you know that there are people who exists so that other people can not do their jobs.
- saagarjha 1y ago
  You’re assuming that companies are efficient at discovering which jobs these are.
  - emp17344 1y ago
    You’re making an assumption that you can effectively judge who contributes value to the business and who does not.
    - more_corn 1y ago
      Correct. For everyone’s sake I would hope this is possible.
    - saagarjha 1y ago
      Sometimes!
- qsort 1y ago
  I'm joking, that wasn't meant to be serious commentary. I don't actually agree with the idea that most jobs are bullshit.
- more_corn 1y ago
deadbabe 1y ago
Some people could be replaced with nothing at all.
- palmotea 1y ago
  > Some people could be replaced with nothing at all. The kicker is it's often not the guy you think it is.

shagie 1y ago

Long ago... Think Geek T-shirt: "Go away or I will replace you with a very small shell script" https://web.archive.org/web/20081204045017/http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/frustrations/374d/ https://web.archive.org/web/20081204045017/http://www.thinkg...

palmotea 1y ago
> Long ago... Think Geek T-shirt: "Go away or I will replace you with a very small shell script" Whoever bought that shirt could probably use some social skills coaching. It's not a good idea to wear a shirt that indiscriminately broadcasts contempt in all directions. I get the purchasers probably confused it for humor, but there's an important difference between humor that works on a viewer TV show and and humor embedded in the interaction of you with another real person. I had this though recently at Walmart, after seeing the third such shirt (a visual pun meaning "fuck you"). Geeks often have the same attitude problems.
- saagarjha 1y ago
  Ideally you pair the shirt with a personality that never leaves any doubt that it is a joke.
  - palmotea 1y ago
    > Ideally you pair the shirt with a personality that never leaves any doubt that it is a joke. Ideally, but that still doesn't really solve the problem. It's not really practical to counter an indiscriminate broadcast of contempt with point to point interactions. People who don't know you or don't know you well will always see your shirt, if you wear it out. You want to do the opposite: indiscriminately broadcast a kind personality, then deploy the sarcasm in point to point contexts "that never [leave] any doubt that it is a joke".
    - saagarjha 1y ago
      I think this is pretty unreasonable, though. Are you against the husband/wife “I’m with stupid/I’m stupid” shirts? Generally it’s pretty obvious this is meant as a joke and not that one spouse genuinely degrades the other in public.

atoav 1y ago

If someone pissed off our sysadmin he would say something among the lines of: "Quiet, you are aware I could replace you with a simple script?"