I know a lot of people, in software and otherwise, who are feeling things along these lines.
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Tech jobs are highly cyclical and lots of the gen AI stuff is ridiculously overhyped, and I’m hopeful that the wheel will keep turning and the professional prospects of software developers will improve again…assuming human civilization survives, that is.
But what I said above applies regardless. We should all be doing this meaning-making work all the time, even in the best job markets. In fact, that work is a part of •making• human civilization survive.
@inthehands The coding work I do on my own feels much more meaningful (even if it takes way too long to get done) than my paid work was ever allowed to be, even when I had opportunity to bend it in meaningful directions.
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Part of the malaise striking the tech industry is the awareness that AI is a ubiquitous state surveillance platform.
It's like working for the East German Stasi in its waning days. The narcs & informers freaked out because their grift is ending.
The fossil fuel industry funds AI, not just for any of its stated reasons, but also for ending any nation ditching their toxic products.
Trump's oligarchs want to identify dissenters & opponents like ...
1/
2/
.... their phantom "antifa" but also to oppose non-criminal conduct, unrelated to national security.
Trends like people taking free public transit & ditching their gas guzzlers. WFH.
Things like identifying every person posting against the fossil fuel industry's shills, Trump, Orban, Putin, and #PrinceBonesaw using age verification scams.
Hackers stole 10 petabytes of data from a Chinese supercomputer lab recently.
The only reason to collect that much data is economic cyberwarfare.
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2/
.... their phantom "antifa" but also to oppose non-criminal conduct, unrelated to national security.
Trends like people taking free public transit & ditching their gas guzzlers. WFH.
Things like identifying every person posting against the fossil fuel industry's shills, Trump, Orban, Putin, and #PrinceBonesaw using age verification scams.
Hackers stole 10 petabytes of data from a Chinese supercomputer lab recently.
The only reason to collect that much data is economic cyberwarfare.
3/
Taking the joy out of life & forcing people into wasting their precious time on this earth working on making billionaires into trillionaires.
A hacker has allegedly breached one of China’s supercomputers and is attempting to sell a trove of stolen data | CNN
A hacker has allegedly stolen a massive trove of sensitive data – including highly classified defense documents and missile schematics – from a state-run Chinese supercomputer in what could potentially constitute the largest known heist of data from China.
CNN (edition.cnn.com)
The tech industry is co-opted by the wealthy for a bleak dystopian future that serves no one but a few hundred sociopaths.
It leaves a sour taste to realize your efforts, taxes, & dreams are enriching the Epstein Class.
Elon Musk, world's first trillionaire: one implication of the massive SpaceX IPO | Fortune
Exactly how much SpaceX plans to raise has not been disclosed but the figure is reportedly as much as $75 billion.
Fortune (fortune.com)
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RE: https://thepit.social/@peter/116376219055579156
I know a lot of people, in software and otherwise, who are feeling things along these lines.
Hold on, whatever tools you’re using, just hold on to your sense of purpose and meaning. There are a lot of forces at work in this world that want to rob you of that. Your feeling of losing that is not recognition of some new fact of our reality; it is you experiencing a psychological weapon.
@inthehands @su_g @peter Welcome to #GenAI #potemkinvillage !
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Tips I can give you from my experience as a musicial weirdo if you’re looking to redevelop a sense of intrinsic purpose and meaning:
Beware of leaning on extrinsic validation (winning a contest, getting a grant, getting a job) for your psychological well-being. Those things may be important for practical purposes, but psychologically they are all empty calories.
Three •good• sources of purpose and meaning in your work that can sustain you:
- your own sense of satisfaction in your work
- sharing work via meaningful, sustained human connections
- the sheer joy of making and doingi think the original Stoics would approve this advice
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Tips I can give you from my experience as a musicial weirdo if you’re looking to redevelop a sense of intrinsic purpose and meaning:
Beware of leaning on extrinsic validation (winning a contest, getting a grant, getting a job) for your psychological well-being. Those things may be important for practical purposes, but psychologically they are all empty calories.
Three •good• sources of purpose and meaning in your work that can sustain you:
- your own sense of satisfaction in your work
- sharing work via meaningful, sustained human connections
- the sheer joy of making and doing@inthehands Process not product, yes, but how do you cultivate that sense of "sheer joy of making in doing"?
A "life hack" I've been trying is to make things _completely in secret_. Like you promise at the beginning that you aren't going to tell ANYONE about it.
Not only does this help you find the excitement of failing, which is the only way to play or learn, but it actually _trains_ your brain to realize, "Hey, no one saw this, no one told me it was good, and I still had a lot of fun and fulfillment making it"
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Tech jobs are highly cyclical and lots of the gen AI stuff is ridiculously overhyped, and I’m hopeful that the wheel will keep turning and the professional prospects of software developers will improve again…assuming human civilization survives, that is.
But what I said above applies regardless. We should all be doing this meaning-making work all the time, even in the best job markets. In fact, that work is a part of •making• human civilization survive.
@inthehands Currently out of work, and I've been struggling with this. On the one hand, I have a strong conviction that what I do matters, and will continue to matter, and is (among other things) a form of art. On the other hand, it's incredibly jarring for the economy to do such a rapid 180 on whether I have anything useful to offer, and it leaves me feeling like a leech on my partner's salary, wondering how long it's going to be before I can bring money to the household again. I think it's going to be a capital P Process to figure out how to carve out a niche in this broke new world.
Thanks for this thread, btw. It helps.
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Tips I can give you from my experience as a musicial weirdo if you’re looking to redevelop a sense of intrinsic purpose and meaning:
Beware of leaning on extrinsic validation (winning a contest, getting a grant, getting a job) for your psychological well-being. Those things may be important for practical purposes, but psychologically they are all empty calories.
Three •good• sources of purpose and meaning in your work that can sustain you:
- your own sense of satisfaction in your work
- sharing work via meaningful, sustained human connections
- the sheer joy of making and doing@inthehands this is great, thank you for sharing
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RE: https://thepit.social/@peter/116376219055579156
I know a lot of people, in software and otherwise, who are feeling things along these lines.
Hold on, whatever tools you’re using, just hold on to your sense of purpose and meaning. There are a lot of forces at work in this world that want to rob you of that. Your feeling of losing that is not recognition of some new fact of our reality; it is you experiencing a psychological weapon.
@inthehands So many people respond to this with "if I'm forced to use it I'm throwing my laptop into the sea." It's not the laptop's fault. It's not even the specific tech's fault. It's those who are forcing it on us no matter the cost because they either are the ones making profits on it or are the ones suckered by those making the profits.
Don't throw the laptops in the sea, throw the CEOs in the sea.
As a side note, LLMs absolutely utterly suck at being treated as a general assistant, but you know something they'd be pretty good at aping pretty well? Being a CEO. Too well. They'd almost perfectly match the CEO profile. To all you boards of directors out there, consider this: you don't have to pay a LLM.
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RE: https://thepit.social/@peter/116376219055579156
I know a lot of people, in software and otherwise, who are feeling things along these lines.
Hold on, whatever tools you’re using, just hold on to your sense of purpose and meaning. There are a lot of forces at work in this world that want to rob you of that. Your feeling of losing that is not recognition of some new fact of our reality; it is you experiencing a psychological weapon.
@inthehands This is why I live stream my coding, which I do without the use of LLMs. I love the thinking/design process AND the writing of the code. And while it might *seem* slow, so what? The journey is (mostly!) enjoyable and provides meaning and community for me.
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@inthehands This is why I live stream my coding, which I do without the use of LLMs. I love the thinking/design process AND the writing of the code. And while it might *seem* slow, so what? The journey is (mostly!) enjoyable and provides meaning and community for me.
@jitterted @inthehands
Similarly, this is why I "live blog" my coding, nearly every day. I love the craft itself."AI" should do the things we don't like to do, like take out the trash and clean the bathroom. Let people do the things they like to do.
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RE: https://thepit.social/@peter/116376219055579156
I know a lot of people, in software and otherwise, who are feeling things along these lines.
Hold on, whatever tools you’re using, just hold on to your sense of purpose and meaning. There are a lot of forces at work in this world that want to rob you of that. Your feeling of losing that is not recognition of some new fact of our reality; it is you experiencing a psychological weapon.
@inthehands This whole thread is a very classy response
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@mathew @audiodude @inthehands
What if neither works for you? And only extrinsic rewards works?
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i think the original Stoics would approve this advice
Yeah its bootstraps ideology…
I recognize it every time I see it. -
A particularly dissonance in my musical life is the aggressive non-interest of the world in my music in competitive circles (commerce, grants, whatever) and the warm, passionate enthusiasm it receives when I share it with people in person.
What’s worked for me: creating contexts of joy and mutual support where I can share with people — not just share generically in general, but sharing with specific actual people where there is a human relationship underlying the sharing — and then sharing.
@inthehands Insightful and helpful to read this. Such a boost. Thanks!
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RE: https://thepit.social/@peter/116376219055579156
I know a lot of people, in software and otherwise, who are feeling things along these lines.
Hold on, whatever tools you’re using, just hold on to your sense of purpose and meaning. There are a lot of forces at work in this world that want to rob you of that. Your feeling of losing that is not recognition of some new fact of our reality; it is you experiencing a psychological weapon.
@inthehands my hope is that all the people who didn't let their cognitive skills atrophy by using AI to write their code for them will be the valuable hires after everyone wakes up to the emperor's lack of clothing.
But damn is it bleak right now.
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Tech jobs are highly cyclical and lots of the gen AI stuff is ridiculously overhyped, and I’m hopeful that the wheel will keep turning and the professional prospects of software developers will improve again…assuming human civilization survives, that is.
But what I said above applies regardless. We should all be doing this meaning-making work all the time, even in the best job markets. In fact, that work is a part of •making• human civilization survive.
I suppose since I talked about my life as a musical weirdo, I should link to it! I don’t have a Soundcloud; I have a completely bespoke personal web site I made from the ground up because of everything upthread.
Something dreamy and old-school:
https://innig.net/music/inthehands/brahms-ballade-10-4Something dreamy and new-school:
https://innig.net/music/scores/words/Something with a long dramatic arc:
https://innig.net/music/albums/brokenmirror/ -
I suppose since I talked about my life as a musical weirdo, I should link to it! I don’t have a Soundcloud; I have a completely bespoke personal web site I made from the ground up because of everything upthread.
Something dreamy and old-school:
https://innig.net/music/inthehands/brahms-ballade-10-4Something dreamy and new-school:
https://innig.net/music/scores/words/Something with a long dramatic arc:
https://innig.net/music/albums/brokenmirror/@inthehands Thank you.
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One advantage of being an artistic weirdo who makes completely commercially non-viable music is that I have a •lot• of practice forging that sense of purpose and meaning for myself when the world is aggressively not handing it to me.
Software development has been coasting on a wave of profitability / employability for several decades, and as a discipline perhaps has an underdeveloped sense of intrinsic purpose. Now is a good time to for us to redevelop that as a community, regardless of future job market prospects.
@inthehands I can tell you that, as someone who was a electronics / software hobbyist before I became a professional, I have rediscovered the joy of making for fun in retirement (I just didn't have the energy for it when I was working). The hardest part is having the discipline to finish things when there are no external drivers. Getting involved in communities of like-minded folks has been helpful there
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I suppose since I talked about my life as a musical weirdo, I should link to it! I don’t have a Soundcloud; I have a completely bespoke personal web site I made from the ground up because of everything upthread.
Something dreamy and old-school:
https://innig.net/music/inthehands/brahms-ballade-10-4Something dreamy and new-school:
https://innig.net/music/scores/words/Something with a long dramatic arc:
https://innig.net/music/albums/brokenmirror/@inthehands Just browsing through, and I note your Chopin 28/4 is from twenty years ago now; I wonder if your interpretation would change if you were to pick the piece up again? Don't think I've heard it with quite that denouement before.
(Currently working my way through 28/15 [Raindrop] myself, it's slow going...)
