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Evidently the corollary to Arthur C Clarke's famous quote on technology and magic is that those who create it are witches and wizards. You like the magic and y

Evidently the corollary to Arthur C Clarke's famous quote on technology and magic is that those who create it are witches and wizards. You like the magic and you need a few practitioners but when things start getting weird, it's pitchfork o'clock.

adrianm 14y ago
What an incredibly succinct way to put it. Props. I have a lurking feeling that in spite of all of the technologist/futurist optimism in our community, we are likely underestimating the pushback from the world at large when enough people at the same time are finally put out of work due to the same technological innovation we strive so furiously for in our own lives.
- blindhippo 14y ago
  I've always doubted we would ever encounter this situation to be honest. The invention of vending machines didn't put convenience stores out of business but it did create a new class of technician to service them. What I'm worried about is that as we move towards more ubiquity with computer technology in our lives, the "coder" will become a second string, blue collar job rather then a legitimate, organized profession.
  - adrianm 14y ago
    You're right - the invention you mentioned did not put stores out of business. But there have been inventions and technologies and new business models that have put people out of work before. That's not a controversial fact I think... My point is that if enough of those disruptive technologies get introduced in a small enough time frame to put enough people out of work, then we might see some unexpected pushback.
    - thingification 14y ago
      I wonder whether, instead of the "traditional" software industry feeling the brunt of that push-back, it'll be the robotics industry?
      - adrianm 14y ago
        Perhaps; but I think the anger will be directed toward the perceived elitist "intellectual class". I mean, we already see a lot of that rhetoric in politics. (At least in American politics.)
  - danudey 14y ago
    When I made this point to my stepfather as a child, he got indignant, claiming that I was saying that the jobs getting replaced 'weren't good enough' and the people who did them 'didn't deserve jobs'. The point is that not everyone will understand that the shifts are gradual, and that we're not going to sack thousands of convenience store clerks and simultaneously hire thousands of vending machine technicians because the technicians 'deserve' jobs and the clerks don't.
vidarh 14y ago
That conjured up images of Unseen University...
tlrobinson 14y ago
I don't know if he was the first, but I assume you got this from Robert Graham's recently proposed corollary "Any sufficiently technical expert is indistinguishable from a witch" http://erratasec.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-conceal-my-identity-same-way-aaron.html http://erratasec.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-conceal-my-identity-...
- petenixey 14y ago
  It actually just occurred to me spontaneously but I'm pleased to find myself in good company
- Alex3917 14y ago
  The problem with that corollary is that the modern equivalents of witches are doctors, but there isn't really any significant negative connotation there for the average person. It's more like technical expertise + shitty marketing.

adrianm 14y ago

What an incredibly succinct way to put it. Props. I have a lurking feeling that in spite of all of the technologist/futurist optimism in our community, we are likely underestimating the pushback from the world at large when enough people at the same time are finally put out of work due to the same technological innovation we strive so furiously for in our own lives.

blindhippo 14y ago
I've always doubted we would ever encounter this situation to be honest. The invention of vending machines didn't put convenience stores out of business but it did create a new class of technician to service them. What I'm worried about is that as we move towards more ubiquity with computer technology in our lives, the "coder" will become a second string, blue collar job rather then a legitimate, organized profession.
- adrianm 14y ago
  You're right - the invention you mentioned did not put stores out of business. But there have been inventions and technologies and new business models that have put people out of work before. That's not a controversial fact I think... My point is that if enough of those disruptive technologies get introduced in a small enough time frame to put enough people out of work, then we might see some unexpected pushback.
  - thingification 14y ago
    I wonder whether, instead of the "traditional" software industry feeling the brunt of that push-back, it'll be the robotics industry?
    - adrianm 14y ago
      Perhaps; but I think the anger will be directed toward the perceived elitist "intellectual class". I mean, we already see a lot of that rhetoric in politics. (At least in American politics.)
- danudey 14y ago
  When I made this point to my stepfather as a child, he got indignant, claiming that I was saying that the jobs getting replaced 'weren't good enough' and the people who did them 'didn't deserve jobs'. The point is that not everyone will understand that the shifts are gradual, and that we're not going to sack thousands of convenience store clerks and simultaneously hire thousands of vending machine technicians because the technicians 'deserve' jobs and the clerks don't.

vidarh 14y ago

That conjured up images of Unseen University...

tlrobinson 14y ago

I don't know if he was the first, but I assume you got this from Robert Graham's recently proposed corollary "Any sufficiently technical expert is indistinguishable from a witch" http://erratasec.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-conceal-my-identity-same-way-aaron.html http://erratasec.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-conceal-my-identity-...

petenixey 14y ago
It actually just occurred to me spontaneously but I'm pleased to find myself in good company
Alex3917 14y ago
The problem with that corollary is that the modern equivalents of witches are doctors, but there isn't really any significant negative connotation there for the average person. It's more like technical expertise + shitty marketing.