3 ms·

It’s funny because the Therac-25 failures led the FDA to care about software defects. Before the Therac-25 incidents, software was considered a black box compon

by Kiboneu 8mo ago

It’s funny because the Therac-25 failures led the FDA to care about software defects. Before the Therac-25 incidents, software was considered a black box component. History rhymes doesn’t it?

AndrewKemendo 8mo ago
It’s almost as if we’re an entirely reactive species that can’t think ahead forward on solving problems that aren’t as a result of some massive tragic event So I wonder then *curiously* what kind of massive tragic event we’re going to have to have before everybody wakes up and realizes superhuman artificial intelligence is something they need to pay attention to politically
- m-hodges 8mo ago
  I think you’re describing reactive not reactionary.
  - AndrewKemendo 8mo ago
    Agreed, corrected
  - catigula 8mo ago
    I'm not totally convinced of this. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reactionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reactionary >relating to, marked by, or favoring reaction It doesn't denote primarily political usage, although that is my interpretation. Here are a few given examples: > The Clippers so far have been reactionary in the playoffs. — Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2021 > The demise of the style was spurred by a reactionary resurgence of Classicism. — Regina Cole, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2023 > However, the signing had been in the works for weeks and was not a reactionary move in the wake of Sjöberg’s injury. — Daniel Boniface, The Denver Post, 14 Mar. 2017 >But in most people, facial bloating and undereye puffiness are usually just reactionary. — Georgia Casey, Allure, 6 Feb. 2026
- Kiboneu 8mo ago
  No that’s completely beside the point…
- YeGoblynQueenne 8mo ago
  >> It’s almost as if we’re an entirely reactive species that can’t think ahead forward on solving problems that aren’t as a result of some massive tragic event That's not a characteristic of the species but of specific tendencies within Western civilization. There's certainly people ringing all sorts of alarm bells for digital technology, the climate, food production, etc etc, and they are very often dismissed as "alarmist". And then there's the motivated reasoning of industrial interests. Think tobacco, asbestos, oil, leaded gasoline, and so on. It's not that we don't know the possible harms, it's just that monetary interests trump the need for health and safety, a.k.a. "health and safety gone mad".

by Kiboneu 8mo ago

It’s funny because the Therac-25 failures led the FDA to care about software defects. Before the Therac-25 incidents, software was considered a black box component. History rhymes doesn’t it?

AndrewKemendo 8mo ago

It’s almost as if we’re an entirely reactive species that can’t think ahead forward on solving problems that aren’t as a result of some massive tragic event So I wonder then *curiously* what kind of massive tragic event we’re going to have to have before everybody wakes up and realizes superhuman artificial intelligence is something they need to pay attention to politically

m-hodges 8mo ago
I think you’re describing reactive not reactionary.
- AndrewKemendo 8mo ago
  Agreed, corrected
- catigula 8mo ago
  I'm not totally convinced of this. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reactionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reactionary >relating to, marked by, or favoring reaction It doesn't denote primarily political usage, although that is my interpretation. Here are a few given examples: > The Clippers so far have been reactionary in the playoffs. — Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2021 > The demise of the style was spurred by a reactionary resurgence of Classicism. — Regina Cole, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2023 > However, the signing had been in the works for weeks and was not a reactionary move in the wake of Sjöberg’s injury. — Daniel Boniface, The Denver Post, 14 Mar. 2017 >But in most people, facial bloating and undereye puffiness are usually just reactionary. — Georgia Casey, Allure, 6 Feb. 2026
Kiboneu 8mo ago
No that’s completely beside the point…
YeGoblynQueenne 8mo ago
>> It’s almost as if we’re an entirely reactive species that can’t think ahead forward on solving problems that aren’t as a result of some massive tragic event That's not a characteristic of the species but of specific tendencies within Western civilization. There's certainly people ringing all sorts of alarm bells for digital technology, the climate, food production, etc etc, and they are very often dismissed as "alarmist". And then there's the motivated reasoning of industrial interests. Think tobacco, asbestos, oil, leaded gasoline, and so on. It's not that we don't know the possible harms, it's just that monetary interests trump the need for health and safety, a.k.a. "health and safety gone mad".