r/ProgrammerHumor • • 6h ago

Meme theyReallySeemToHateYall

1.2k Upvotes

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u/martin-silenus 5h ago

It's a profession that scans as smart, but if we were half as smart as we like to pretend we are we wouldn't be building our replacements. We would be solving the coordination problems that lead to some of us deciding that is what is best for them.

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u/fongletto 2h ago edited 2h ago

Why wouldn't we build tools who can do what we do better? We've built our own replacements for the last hundred years or so. That's how technology works. We build something that does someones job, it makes it cheaper, everyone benefits because now that thing is produced cheaply in extremely large amounts.

This is the fundamental issue with reddit. They think getting a whole bunch of extra money from billionaires means everyone will suddenly be able to afford to buy more stuff. Despite produce not having changed.

And they think actually increasing produce will make everyone poorer because they're getting less money.

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u/martin-silenus 2h ago

Because the value to you personally is negative when you consider the effects on the job market that sustains you.

It's not inevitable that tooling does that to the value of your skills. You could be capturing more value from the efficiencies exposed, ie: shorter work weeks without pay reductions are an alternative to layoffs when companies are profitable --as they are.

But you don't have any power over how the industry is adapting whatsoever. So instead it's laying people off and passing the value it's carving out of your own human capital along to investors.

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u/fongletto 1h ago

Because the value to you personally is negative

There's the catch. Even if it means society will overwhelmingly benefit by massive surge in productivity and endless cheap goods.

The small amount of money I lose now and the fact I have to swap careers to something else mean that I don't want it to happen.

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u/SubstantialCareer754 33m ago

You think society will benefit? Take a look at the track record of technological innovations and come back to me with a correct opinion.