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Comment by jnovek | Hacker News Reader

I started programming when I was eleven years old and I’m now in my 40s. I have no idea what to do with the rest of my life.

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Same here. I've long had the feeling that the internet could somehow help the world, but honestly, I don't feel that's the case anymore.

There is a whole lot of crap out there. But I think the Internet HAS been a game changer in lifting people out of poverty and increasing standards of living. Communication is awesome. And although there is a lot of propaganda (which there has always been) there is now also a lot of truth and counter claims. It’s no longer just the rich that have access to information (think of farmers guessing at what their crop was worth). I _hope_ AI will do similarly, but I have my doubts on that one.

The irony of the moment is that a billionaire in a Michelin-star restaurant and a homeless person on the street are scrolling through the same Instagram feed.

Technology doesn't do anything by itself. The result of it on the fabric of the society depends on how it is applied, whether the benefits are distributed to everyone (to some extent) or not. It's possible that taby technology is just used to displace people who lose their livelihoods and income while the benefits flow the capital owning class. In fact all the great productivity boosts that have taken place over the last decades since WW2 have mostly befitted the capital class. That's why a worker still grinds away 8h a week and barely scares by while the "elites" splurge on yacths, mansions and space travel for leisure.

jnovek, don't listen to him! Piracy is never the way.

https://youtu.be/9fUjwV4j-H0 (The Offspring - Have You Ever)

What if the the alternatives are worse?

There's a whole lot of us out there. I don't know if there's still a future in the thing that I love, which is where all the malaise comes from.

“Have you ever considered piracy? You’d make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts”

https://youtu.be/IIbeFgaYTNs

Keep going? Just because there’s a different way to do what you like doing doesn’t mean you should stop.

Or become a carpenter. The world is going to be flooded by them.

I live in the Alps — every second person here is already a third-generation carpenter.

keep programming and learn to use AI.

it’s just another tool. lots of people didn’t want to use compilers and got left behind. the world moved on.

i’m older than you and doing fine. it’s just another tech upheaval, we’ve been through plenty.

yes it gets tiring and at some point you find your way off the treadmill. but it’s really not that hard to stay on, especially if you have the experience.

Do w hat we did in corporate/banking/other sociopathic envs did decades ago - find another source of fulfillment and happiness. For me its adventures and sports and kids, could be something else for the next joe.

Or just code as you want as a hobby, unrestrained, for whatever you need or makes you happy.

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