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God on HN? Come on, the world isn't flat anymore.

jacquesm 12y ago
You don't have to take that literally in order to understand it, but just in case you really missed the point: the doctor is essentially saying that he is dealing with problems that have no direct cause or architect that he can consult whereas the IT people have essentially only themselves to blame and have made the mess they're in (usually) rather than that it has been handed down to them through the mists of time or from above. In a general sense that is true but in a more specific sense it is definitely possible to be handed a project without docs and horrible problems and it might as well be an organic problem. Even so, the simplest biology dwarfs the largest IT systems in complexity.
- a_dutch_guy 12y ago
  Of course I am not taking it literally. But he does mention God. Being a technical guy Stephen Hawking makes much more sense to me than God.
- iamcreasy 12y ago
  > Even so, the simplest biology dwarfs the largest IT systems in complexity. Well said.
- dasil003 12y ago
  > Even so, the simplest biology dwarfs the largest IT systems in complexity. And also mercifully in continuous real-world testing over time with no Big Rewrite to be seen. While an individual organism might have unsolvable problems, nature doesn't have the same tolerance for utterly intractable systems that we sometimes see in the software community.
justathrow2k 12y ago
Oh, look, someone who has proven that God doesn't exist. Please, post the proof for all of us to see.
- jodrellblank 12y ago
  You'll just have to take it on Faith.
  - justathrow2k 12y ago
    I'd agree, it takes faith to know that there was no creator of the world, the same faith it takes to know there was. Just to clarify, I'm not arguing there's proof that 'God' does exist, I'm arguing there's no proof that 'God' doesn't exist. The original comparison falls short, the world can be proven to be round, not flat. edit: a thanks in advance to all you enlightened fervent atheists for the down votes.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - cbd1984 12y ago
      Atheism isn't having faith there is no creator, it's having the intellectual curiosity to doubt the existence of a creator. Edited to be more honest.
      - justathrow2k 12y ago
        It only takes courage for those who live in areas that are indoctrinated with dense religious ideology's who will suffer consequences for their actions. For most in the western world, it is not such a hard thing to identify oneself with. edit: original response claimed it took courage to doubt the existence of a creator. It has since edited out to claim it simply takes intellectual curiosity. I would argue that the same intellectual curiosity could have the end result of someone having a belief in a singular creator of reality.
        cbd1984 12y ago
        > I would argue that the same intellectual curiosity could have the end result of someone having a belief in a singular creator of reality. Possible, but not likely, given how many intellectually curious people have independently reinvented atheism but no religion has been independently reinvented.
marrs 12y ago
Intolerance on HN? Apparently so.

You don't have to take that literally in order to understand it, but just in case you really missed the point: the doctor is essentially saying that he is dealing with problems that have no direct cause or architect that he can consult whereas the IT people have essentially only themselves to blame and have made the mess they're in (usually) rather than that it has been handed down to them through the mists of time or from above. In a general sense that is true but in a more specific sense it is definitely possible to be handed a project without docs and horrible problems and it might as well be an organic problem. Even so, the simplest biology dwarfs the largest IT systems in complexity.

a_dutch_guy 12y ago
Of course I am not taking it literally. But he does mention God. Being a technical guy Stephen Hawking makes much more sense to me than God.
iamcreasy 12y ago
> Even so, the simplest biology dwarfs the largest IT systems in complexity. Well said.
dasil003 12y ago
> Even so, the simplest biology dwarfs the largest IT systems in complexity. And also mercifully in continuous real-world testing over time with no Big Rewrite to be seen. While an individual organism might have unsolvable problems, nature doesn't have the same tolerance for utterly intractable systems that we sometimes see in the software community.

justathrow2k 12y ago

Oh, look, someone who has proven that God doesn't exist. Please, post the proof for all of us to see.

jodrellblank 12y ago
You'll just have to take it on Faith.
- justathrow2k 12y ago
  I'd agree, it takes faith to know that there was no creator of the world, the same faith it takes to know there was. Just to clarify, I'm not arguing there's proof that 'God' does exist, I'm arguing there's no proof that 'God' doesn't exist. The original comparison falls short, the world can be proven to be round, not flat. edit: a thanks in advance to all you enlightened fervent atheists for the down votes.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - cbd1984 12y ago
    Atheism isn't having faith there is no creator, it's having the intellectual curiosity to doubt the existence of a creator. Edited to be more honest.
    - justathrow2k 12y ago
      It only takes courage for those who live in areas that are indoctrinated with dense religious ideology's who will suffer consequences for their actions. For most in the western world, it is not such a hard thing to identify oneself with. edit: original response claimed it took courage to doubt the existence of a creator. It has since edited out to claim it simply takes intellectual curiosity. I would argue that the same intellectual curiosity could have the end result of someone having a belief in a singular creator of reality.
      - cbd1984 12y ago
        > I would argue that the same intellectual curiosity could have the end result of someone having a belief in a singular creator of reality. Possible, but not likely, given how many intellectually curious people have independently reinvented atheism but no religion has been independently reinvented.

marrs 12y ago

Intolerance on HN? Apparently so.