>But technologists used to work on big problems. Not First World problems, but whole world problems -- sending humans to the moon, ending poverty, ending diseas

>But technologists used to work on big problems. Not First World problems, but whole world problems -- sending humans to the moon, ending poverty, ending disease. Sending humans to the Moon was (and apparently still is) a First World problem, unless you intend to terraform and colonize it with a social cross-section of humanity. Smart people are still working on the other big problems, but they require a lot of time and resources -- heavily concentrated in a relatively small number of organizations I might add -- while the rest of us have to satisfy ourselves with making money and a life relatively free of heroic deeds.