I was impressed with the tooling as well. I worked at the University of Washington in Bio-engineering, and we collaborated with the Department of Radiology. They were building up the first PET scanner at UW, and the PI on my project was simulating mass transport and exchange in the tissues of the myocardium.
We all had a couple of MV/10000s, and I think four MV/4000s. Radiology ran AOS/VS, while we ran (first) MV/UX and later DG/UX.
I really admired the C compiler. It was a first class piece of work, in my view. I believe it was largely written by Michael Meissner.[1]
I reject the idea that we have libertarian free will. In my view, each of us is an ongoing process, we don't strictly end at our skin lines (the world is a unity, maybe quantum fields), and no one is responsible for their actions in the strictest sense.
In other words, "You didn't build that" because there is no separate, tangible "you" to have built it.
I don't usually talk about this, because it often makes people uncomfortable, and I don't typically don't care enough to try to answer all the questions that such a view raises.
What I have noticed is that this view has allowed me to be a lot more charitable with others and with myself. If someone cuts me off in traffic, I feel a flash of anger which then fades pretty quickly, as I remind myself that the driver is as much a victim or a winner of life unfolding as I am. I think it's important to develop in myself as much of a sense of compassion for myself and others as I can.
Thank you for bringing me up to date.
Any other sites you'd recommend for thoughtful discussion?