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> I miss the time when computing was a lot less political. Whether such a time ever existed is debatable. Here's a test. Define the period that you're imagini

> I miss the time when computing was a lot less political. Whether such a time ever existed is debatable. Here's a test. Define the period that you're imagining. Then investigate this period as a point in the history of computing with its broader sociopolitical contexts. Somewhere in the midst of that milieu I reckon or the politics you're likely to be fond to mix with your tech projects.

colechristensen 5mo ago
Most "conservative" opinions are basically "I miss when I was young and wasn't aware of all of the stuff happening around me and want modern reality to be like my incorrect perception of how things were in my youth"
- tolerance 5mo ago
  That was the direction I was going to head in first before I was less confident in my assumption of the parent commenter's age based on their username. It's a good direction to take and adds in the possibility, for example, that one may investigate the past and find themselves unintentionally and retroactively complicit in everything between the atomic bomb to US intervention in Libya. And now I'm curious about the likelihood of a youth who will know no age better than our present, in the future. You might like this thread from earlier this year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46505934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46505934
- rapnie 5mo ago
  Yes, that is a more honest assessment than longing for the time "when computing was much less political". It simply wasn't, and not recognizing that leads directly to the mess we have today and onwards towards bleak future.
- lynx97 5mo ago
  That is quite a condescending take. I get that you are extrapolating from my post that I might be conservative. That needs more nuance, but I get it. But to assume I always was, and used to be ignorant, is too far reaching. In fact, I used to be a lot more progressive in the past.
  - colechristensen 5mo ago
    >But to assume I always was, and used to be ignorant, is too far reaching. Eh, it was only meant to be a little mean. You were I dumb kid, I was a dumb kid, everyone was a dumb kid. I'm assuming to be human involves being a stupid child who didn't have a very good picture of reality. It is extremely common for a person to have this innate belief that their perceptions of the world as a dumb kid to be true and have that be the basis of their desires for how things should be now. I bet you also think the music you listened to roughly in your teenage years was the best music ever made and everything made before or after isn't as good. Again, nearly everyone feels this way. >In fact, I used to be a lot more progressive in the past. If middle-age had a slogan, this would be it. If middle-age was a movie, this would be the subtitle. Welcome. I'm not talking about conservative the binary, 1-dimensional political stance. I'm talking the "I want things to stay the way they were in the past" conservativism which is broad, can be about anything, and is really common particularly as one gets a little order and hasn't really reevaluated the reality they may remember incorrectly.
    - botanrice 5mo ago
      honestly bruh this is weirdly combative and not a good look on behalf of whatever movements you stand for
      - colechristensen 5mo ago
        Which movements are those again? When you're young you're naïve, when you're old you're cursed with a false nostalgia. It's the human condition and we're all kinda stupid like that. You'll have trouble pinning down which group I'm attacking and which I'm supporting.
        lynx97 5mo ago
        > When you're young you're naïve, when you're old you're cursed with a false nostalgia How convenient! So you can dismiss any comment on the basis of them being either to young or to old. I think you're overestimating the stupidity of others to fall for your simpleton attempt of manipulating people.

colechristensen 5mo ago

Most "conservative" opinions are basically "I miss when I was young and wasn't aware of all of the stuff happening around me and want modern reality to be like my incorrect perception of how things were in my youth"

tolerance 5mo ago
That was the direction I was going to head in first before I was less confident in my assumption of the parent commenter's age based on their username. It's a good direction to take and adds in the possibility, for example, that one may investigate the past and find themselves unintentionally and retroactively complicit in everything between the atomic bomb to US intervention in Libya. And now I'm curious about the likelihood of a youth who will know no age better than our present, in the future. You might like this thread from earlier this year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46505934 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46505934
rapnie 5mo ago
Yes, that is a more honest assessment than longing for the time "when computing was much less political". It simply wasn't, and not recognizing that leads directly to the mess we have today and onwards towards bleak future.
lynx97 5mo ago
That is quite a condescending take. I get that you are extrapolating from my post that I might be conservative. That needs more nuance, but I get it. But to assume I always was, and used to be ignorant, is too far reaching. In fact, I used to be a lot more progressive in the past.
- colechristensen 5mo ago
  >But to assume I always was, and used to be ignorant, is too far reaching. Eh, it was only meant to be a little mean. You were I dumb kid, I was a dumb kid, everyone was a dumb kid. I'm assuming to be human involves being a stupid child who didn't have a very good picture of reality. It is extremely common for a person to have this innate belief that their perceptions of the world as a dumb kid to be true and have that be the basis of their desires for how things should be now. I bet you also think the music you listened to roughly in your teenage years was the best music ever made and everything made before or after isn't as good. Again, nearly everyone feels this way. >In fact, I used to be a lot more progressive in the past. If middle-age had a slogan, this would be it. If middle-age was a movie, this would be the subtitle. Welcome. I'm not talking about conservative the binary, 1-dimensional political stance. I'm talking the "I want things to stay the way they were in the past" conservativism which is broad, can be about anything, and is really common particularly as one gets a little order and hasn't really reevaluated the reality they may remember incorrectly.
  - botanrice 5mo ago
    honestly bruh this is weirdly combative and not a good look on behalf of whatever movements you stand for
    - colechristensen 5mo ago
      Which movements are those again? When you're young you're naïve, when you're old you're cursed with a false nostalgia. It's the human condition and we're all kinda stupid like that. You'll have trouble pinning down which group I'm attacking and which I'm supporting.
      - lynx97 5mo ago
        > When you're young you're naïve, when you're old you're cursed with a false nostalgia How convenient! So you can dismiss any comment on the basis of them being either to young or to old. I think you're overestimating the stupidity of others to fall for your simpleton attempt of manipulating people.