Preventing the Collapse of Civilization / Jonathan Blow [video](youtube.com)
youtube.com
Preventing the Collapse of Civilization / Jonathan Blow [video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSRHeXYDLko
4 comments
I don't buy it. You're just exchanging one type of complexity for another.
Frankly I think this is rooted in a sense of nostalgia rather than practical concern. It's clear me blow enjoys being close to the metal. He wants to be a true hacker who can drill down to each and gate.
But the reality of systems is that they grow more complicated. There is a popular TED talk that claims there is no one on earth who understands how a computer mouse is manufactured. There are just too many steps and specialities (mineral identification, mining, material science, manufacturing, ergonomics, etc).
Anyone who has ever re-made a piece of software knows this trap.
Software starts -> features get added -> it's too complicated, we don't understand it anymore -> throw it away and start over.
It almost never ends up any better. It's a trap as you quickly realise why it was so complicated.
Frankly I think this is rooted in a sense of nostalgia rather than practical concern. It's clear me blow enjoys being close to the metal. He wants to be a true hacker who can drill down to each and gate.
But the reality of systems is that they grow more complicated. There is a popular TED talk that claims there is no one on earth who understands how a computer mouse is manufactured. There are just too many steps and specialities (mineral identification, mining, material science, manufacturing, ergonomics, etc).
Anyone who has ever re-made a piece of software knows this trap.
Software starts -> features get added -> it's too complicated, we don't understand it anymore -> throw it away and start over.
It almost never ends up any better. It's a trap as you quickly realise why it was so complicated.
I don't like the part where Elon Musk is saying that "isn't it a shame" that the Egyptians' pyramids and the Romans' aqueducts were highlights of science and engineering, and that the skills to create them atrophied or were forgotten.
I'm kind of glad that we don't do things like trying to replicate the glory of the pyramids if it's true that they required masses upon masses of slave labor to build them. Similarly for the aqueducts (I don't know if slave labor was used to build them, and a Wikipedia search didn't yield anything useful).
I'm kind of glad that we don't do things like trying to replicate the glory of the pyramids if it's true that they required masses upon masses of slave labor to build them. Similarly for the aqueducts (I don't know if slave labor was used to build them, and a Wikipedia search didn't yield anything useful).
Have you ever seen the way modern AAA video games are made? I have a feeling they are really the product of our time (large amounts of money, poor labour laws, etc), and we are not going to see anything of a similar scope before or after for a while at least.
(Different YouTube URL as it's a different delivery of the same talk.)