The temperature is 98. The humidity is 77. That's a web bulb temperature
of 92. People my age die in those conditions. Few things would be too ugly,
too noisy, and bothersome as a hospital death bed due to organ failure.
I bought full self-driving in September 2025 for my Model Y.
I have not touched the wheel on any public road since then.
It drives everywhere better than I would.
It drove from Pittsburgh to Louisianna to Jacksonville and back
without intervention. My wife is returning from Michigan at this
moment without intervention.
So tell me why you think this doesn't work.
The best way to cut through this noise is to visit a Tesla
dealer and ask for a test drive.
The creative part is that the AI needs to create compelling stories that
resonate with people. Joel's story shows something that could happen to
a couple living on being popular.
There are 12 stories requested in musical form. The form isn't the issue.
The content of the "mattress" section requires telling stories that people
can accept as "real".
Common Lisp. THE most important language to learn. It is all here.
Math. Especially Linear Algebra
APL. Learn the true power of array-like thinking and strong use of symbols.
Assembler. Learn the language machines speak.
Forth. Learn how to program with self-created, minimal tools to create great things.
Bash. Learn how to use the full power of the machine in a terminal.
Emacs Lisp. It's not a language, it is everything you'll ever need.
C. Because it is everywhere, usually as a glue language between systems.
Python. So you can see how badly a language can be designed.
Verilog. Learn to fashion hardware in a language.
LEAN. Write provably-correct software.
HTML. Because you wouldn't be reading this otherwise.
Javascript. Because you occasionally have to make useful web pages.
Java. Because you can do network programming.
X11/Wayland. Because you can reach out and show things.
Regex. Because you can't parse without it.
Erlang. Because things break and you need to survive.
CUDA. Because you need to know how to write kernels.
SNOBOL. Patterns are programs. Programs are patterns. Plus 3 way branching.
Latex. Because you need to communicate to other meat-things.
SQL. Because databases underlie it all
OCAML. Because Type-correctness matters
Lambda Calculus. Because you need to know how it all works in theory.
Haskell. Because you need to learn a real higher level language.
C++. Because you need to see cancer in its raw form
Swift. Because you can make the stone in your hand do things.
Qiskit. Quantum computers are coming
Of course LLMs are going to make all of these languages so rarely
spoken that they will be like COBOL. The future of programming is
maintenance programming. Legacy systems won't be rewritten, they
will be "maintained". If you know what a PROCEDURE DIVISION you'll
always have a job.
Jim Farley doesn't understand what is actually happening. The majors are all in denial.
(Rory Sutherland on selling an electric car: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OTOKws45kCo )
I just drove from Pittsburgh to Louisianna to Florida to Pittsburgh without touching the steering wheel. The car planned the route, planned the charging stops, and backed into the charging spaces.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" -- Arthur C. Clarke
(I had a career in vision, AI, and robots yet it still feels like magic)
The price of electricity to "fill up" was about 1/4 the price of gas for equivalent miles. "Fill up" times at chargers averaged about 10 minutes.
I have had my car for 15 months. I rotated the tires and added wiper fluid.
"Lower total cost of ownership always wins" is basic economics.
And now Grok listens to my trip stops and updates navigation. Talk to Grok, touch "start full self driving" and relax.
"The future is already here—it's just not very evenly distributed," -- William Gibson
I bought FSD on Sept 19th, 2025. I have not driven my Tesla on a public road since then. It is all done by FSD. I just completed a trip from Pittsburgh to Louisianna to Florida and back to Pittsburgh without touching the wheel. Perhaps the author ought to try it.
They are like heavy sleepers refusing to be aroused. "Leave me alone! It's
not time to get up yet!"
They retreat into death games and other violence, "hiding their awareness
from the terrifying necessities of this moment.
If any human sees a clear choice between life and death, then chooses
death, we call that insane. Why do we accept it when it happens on a world
scale?
We must shake the sleepers—gently and persistently, saying: "Time to get
up."