What Did You Change Your Mind About in 2007? 578
chrisd writes "The Edge 2008 question (with answers) is in. This year, the question is: 'What did you change your mind about and why?'. Answers are featured from scientists as diverse as Richard Dawkins, Simon Baron-Cohen, George Church, David Brin, J. Craig Venter and the Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, among others. Very interesting to read. For instance, Stewart Brand writes that he now realizes that 'Good old stuff sucks' and Sam Harris has decided that 'Mother Nature is Not Our Friend.' What did Slashdot readers change their minds about in 2007?"
Outsourcing actually isn't to bad (Score:2, Interesting)
It has a disciplining effect on the entire organization since the punishment for immaturity is harsh and tangible.
An additional benefit is that it has a rather sobering effect on local know-it-all's when they see that their work is in fact inferior to what we can get from a third world sourcing partner. After this sort of ego bruising they are more ready to accept modern and mature practices.
Ron Paul and the war (Score:4, Interesting)
Linux (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The price of oil is still too cheap (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The price of oil is still too cheap (Score:4, Interesting)
If gasoline were a more appropriate price (e.g., $6/gal), we'd see alternatives popping up. Europe has been paying that much for gas for several years now. At this rate, the US will continue to produce/consume SUV's and trucks until gasoline becomes so expensive that it makes economic sense to switch over to something else. That aside, the US gov't is promoting patent law bullshit instead of realizing that it hinders our economic progress and ties up our courts, just like the war on drugs.
The incentives for the US to stop sucking eggs aren't in place. It feels like there's nothing we can do to stop idiots like Ted Stevens from getting elected. Congress doesn't enact laws that are in our best interests and the president's a moron.
I changed my mind about wanting to live in the US in 2007. It seems worth seriously considering a move to another country or even another continent. I'm thinking about vacationing in London. Canada and the UK don't seem like bad ideas right now. There's more wrong with this country than its president.
religion (Score:5, Interesting)
I changed my mind about the music business (Score:3, Interesting)
Impeachment. (Score:4, Interesting)
I changed my mind about canada (Score:1, Interesting)
global warming will soften some of the colder months.
the CAD is already worth more than the USD
Canada is actually tech friendly, and looks like it will remain so for the forseeable future, so it will attract the talent the US has been crushing to death under IP laws.
Canada, land of the free, home of people with a spine, the future of north America.
Third Party (Score:3, Interesting)
Why not third party?
I'm a Government conservative and a social liberal (I think we should stop violating the Constitution, get rid of the IRS, stop these stupid wars, religion doesn't belong in Government, I don't give a rat's ass who you sleep with, and I don't see why gays can't get married). I vote third party and if there's not third party candidate, I abstain with the naive hope that the politicians will notice somehow.
Re:Outsourcing actually isn't to bad (Score:4, Interesting)
And next year you'll have learned that offshore outsourcing isnt so cheap after all.
Well, maybe not next year, but the writing's on the wall; between the lackluster performance of the dollar and the (almost) pan-asian economic overheating and inflationary meltdown, as well as the young sourcing partners growing up and aquiring their own managerial fat and rigidity, you'll find the balance shifting once again.
Personally I've been overjoyed to have some foreign colleagues; suddenly there are actually people I can send work to when we are far too overloaded to do anywhere near all that needs to be done.
"After this sort of ego bruising they are more ready to accept modern and mature practices."
Yes, well, what goes around comes around. Dont expect temporary phenomena to last forever; you may find yourself in the position to have to kiss and polish those egos once again, so if I were you I'd concentrate a bit more on the positive aspects rather than gloating and fostering discontent.
Re:The price of oil is still too cheap (Score:2, Interesting)
What has changed also is income disparity. A huge change. $10 million/yr CEOs of public companies didn't exist 20 years ago; shareholders wouldn't have put up with it. The CEO or even the $500K physician isn't going to give a damn about fuel prices, even at $100/gal, and if they want a Hummer they'll get a Hummer (unless they are sensitive to being perceived as crass and politically incorrect, but most aren't - they feel their money entitles them to waste 100x more earth resources than the average person). The market for multi-million dollar mansions is hotter than ever, in constrast to the housing and mortgage collapse that the rest of us are in the middle of. Meanwhile, even computer programmers are barely eking out what used to be considered a lower-middle-class existence in terms of the current value of the dollar.
Re:Emotion (Score:4, Interesting)
This is happening to a lot of people these days, men in particular. --My own version of it, (and I always thought I had a solid connection with my emotional side), happened during the Katrina disaster. I was utterly and unexpectedly overwhelmed with emotion for several days to the point of not being able to function socially at all; it was like I could feel the fear and pain of all those people all at once. --In the past, I would easily have been able to observe such a massive tragedy with detached interest. I was really stunned by the whole episode. Something was blasted open inside me, and it took most of six months to figure out how to live with the new awareness. I don't doubt that it was a good thing, but it was a very difficult process to go through!
-FL
Recycling is not necessarily better.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Ron Paul and the war (Score:3, Interesting)
There has been *one* War within the US in the past 232 years, which came as a result of irreconcilable differences arising between the states. Given the way that most state governments work these days, I'd be terrified of handing over even *more* power to them. Europe's had too many wars to count in that same period.
Likewise, the articles of confederation (enacted before the US constitution, which gave the states an extremely high degree of autonomy) proved to be a complete and total failure. Most US states are simply too small to effectively handle their own affairs, and the differences between the states aren't nearly as the right wing would have you believe. The "culture wars" are a relatively new phenomenon, and for the most part, are completely artificial.
Even the EU strongly encourages their member nations to look out for the welfare of the other nations within the union. EU citizens wishing to attend university in another EU state can typically do so, and pay virtually nothing. This isn't even possible in the US at present, where students are either forced to deal with the education system in their own state, or take out massive loans to attend an out-of-state, or private university.
Perhaps a better (but more radical) proposal would be to create a third tier of government at a regional level to better bridge the gap between state and federal governments.
Still, I don't think that the states are in *ANY* condition to begin managing their own affairs. Ron Paul's vision for America *WILL* result in another civil war at some point down the line.
Re:Ron Paul (Score:3, Interesting)
The way I see it, one of three things can happen. . .
1. He'll be elected, and it'll be some form of, "Meet the new boss".
2. He'll be another also-ran, soon to be forgotten.
3. He'll board a small plane.
-FL
Utter Rubbish (Score:3, Interesting)
Ron Paul has repeatedly said that some of his personal heroes are Martin Luther King Jr and Ghandi -- very odd choices for a white supremacist. He also said in an interview [washingtonpost.com] that he would consider someone like Walter Williams, a black economist, as his running mate.
The article posted has long since been dismissed as the writing of a ghost writer that was subsequently removed from his staff. His public life of service has shown no other evidence of any racism beyond this single article from the early nineties as was covered in Free Market News [freemarketnews.com]
From that article is the following quote by Ron Paul:
It really is amazing that in 10 terms in congress and being in the public spotlight for 30 years, this is the only thing that the media can dig up against Ron Paul.
Re:The price of oil is still too cheap (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been wrong almost every time in guessing how much gasoline will rise. I think the prices will depend on the political situation going into November. Did you notice how gas prices stabilized and remained relatively low during the 2006 election? I know people say the prices weren't manipulated, but it sure seemed to me the oil companies did what they could to help the Republicans win in 06. It didn't help. So unless there is some kind of major disruption I suspect we may see a repeat of the Fall 2006 pricing.
I've no doubt it'll hit $5 USD/gal at some point in the future, but I don't think it'll be 2008. Supply and availability are going to be the real determining factors. Until there are shortages and long lines people will grumble but they won't be up in arms.
I predict gasoline will eventually be sold per liter as prices go up and that car mileage will be listed in kilometers per gallon. It won't change anything but it'll be an attempt to obfuscate the real costs.
Re:And of course.. theyre also willing to accept.. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm an academic, and the single biggest reason is that I'm a workaholic and if the place didn't almost shut down for 4 months of the year, I'd work myself to an early grave. As it is now, though, I work my ass off 8 months of the year, and 4 months of the year I'm blessed and cursed to be able to get almost nothing done (well, nothing that requires the organization). It's been very good for my health and mental well-being, if not necessarily for my wallet.
Over the last summer break, I spent about a week staying with my friends who work at a major IT company as developers. I saw their lives, and was envious. They make a lot more money, they come home earlier, and it is virtually impossible for them to work at home, so they don't. "Damn," I thought, "I really did pick the wrong career." But then I noticed something: I was staying at their house in a different country from where I live for a week, and that was just one week out of about 7 or 8 in a row that I didn't have to report to work. I was still getting some things done on the laptop, but that had much more to do with my workaholic nature than necessity. "Damn," I thought, "maybe I picked the right career after all."
The point I'm trying to make is that you are ultimately in control of your time. You are. Really. It's your time. Your life. If you feel that you are losing it to a company, and the money isn't worth it, you need to change gears. It's not their fault. It's your fault for doing it.
Now, this decision will most certainly result in a decrease in income. It may mean you aren't buying a house (if you're in the US, this is a terrible time to buy anyway--wait for the market to really crash first--and if you already bought, you have my sympathy), it may mean that vacation is usually spent on the couch instead of on the beach. It may mean you will be hanging on to your old car and just keeping it going until it dies. It means you don't get the "American Dream" kind of life people in my generation seem to somehow feel is necessary. BUT, you will get your life back.
Depending on who you are as a person--whether you value money or time more--this may or may not be a viable lifestyle choice. But the choice is there.
Finally, however, I want to address this idea that we work harder than our elders. I think that is really only the case on Leave it to Beaver. In talking to my parents, both of their parents worked. Mom got home earlier than Dad (schoolteachers in both cases), but Dad (a lawyer on one side and a shopkeeper on the other) got home late. Anecdotal evidence, I know, but I really think that we have too rosy a view of our elders' lives. In my own parents' case, they run a business that is attached to the house, so they were around a lot, but were also usually working. When my dad had to go out, which was/is almost every day, he didn't come home until late (8-9). He also gets called out to truck wrecks (independent insurance adjuster specializing in the hard stuff that companies hire a third party to handle) in the middle of the night fairly regularly, and might not come shuffling back home for 18 hours, after dealing with cops, insurance companies, grief-ridden truck drivers, and the survivors of the family they just killed. That being said, there are down periods with little work and no money, and I grew up being pulled out of school during those periods to drive around the country and learn things. My parents basically made the same choice I did. Time is more important than money.
Further, think of the Depression generation! They didn't work because there wasn't any. Lots of time, but absolutely no money. If they did work, it was long hours in a dusty field. And before that? The agriculture- and manufacturing-based economy. The ag business is still crazy hours (grew up in a little town--had lots of friends who were farm kids and grew up working), and the only reason manufacturing went to 8 hours a day is that in the 20s factories were literally working people to deat
What did I change my mind on? (Score:2, Interesting)
I am lving in a foreign Asian country. Whether from my upbringing or my natural principles, I believed in being very passive
in terms of how I influence a foreign culture. My original point of view was that I should fully respect ALL
of the foreign culture as a macro entity, and never complain about or try to change things at a micro level. This is very important IMO. You should not take yourself too seriously in life. We are all tiny grains in this universe. But, we should remember that we are part of mankind ( a sligtly bigger grain in the universe) and that our everyday decisions and influences do add up each day. Collectively if something changes, it is often as a result of the efforts of many people - not just one person. I believe in people power so long as we are not all sheep. We should be able to lead ourselves. My point is that we have to be careful with our influennces and desire for change:
My original point of view was that 'If I change things at a micro level, then maybe I will affect the whole macro entity.'
My point of view has changed a little. I still believe it's wrong to try and influence or change someone elses culture,
but you should complain or influence things a little. This is because if we don't, we deny our human spirit.
It's natural for a spirit to want to participate, and be involved in the society they live in as a minority.
So, I am a minority resident in S. Korea. Now, I use my voice a little more.
Re:Ron Paul and the war (Score:3, Interesting)
Engineers have lost control of the IT departments (Score:2, Interesting)
For a long time now MBA's, and management types in general have struggled to understand, cut costs, and in general quantify something that is not quantifiable. After all, if a system administrator does their job correctly, you never know they're doing their job at all.
So the management types end up coming up with obtuse questions for which they expect hard answers. How many trouble tickets a day should a system administrator be able to close? Why didn't you have a "satisfactory" response from the end user when you closed the ticket? What justifies "spending extra time" on a problem? Why wasn't something done to prevent the problem?
These are all arbitrary questions that can't be answered with simple solutions. More importantly, these are all arbitrary questions that can't be quantified. They don't fit well into a spreadsheet. They don't take into account being woken up in the middle of the night, and prodded for an answer. They don't take into account carrying a pager 24/7. They don't take into account someone saying something to you in a hall way, and expecting you to remember it like your life depends on it. And they certainly don't take into account the basic fact that computer administration is an art, not a science.
So the MBA's of the world have started "laying down the law." Everyone must start work at 8AM, no exceptions (we don't care when you were paged). You must track all of your time spent through out the day (no potty breaks for you!). You must close X amount of tickets a day. You must carry on doing the work of the department, even though we have cut half the positions in an attempt to bolster the management bonuses. You must keep abreast of all current changes in technology, in your personal time. You will be expected to be able to answer about any new technical matter, but you can not spend work time learning about it, unless it was approved in writing first.
System administration in the way that I know it, having grown up in Bell Labs (literally), will go the way of the computer operator. There will be set shifts. There will be a union. There will be no creativity. Everything will be done in an organized fashion, and signed in triplicate.
No exceptions.
Re:What did I change my mind on? (Score:3, Interesting)
That being said, there's nothing wrong with respecting the existence of traditions and subjective preferences - but there's also nothing wrong with introducing your own previously foreign experience into the mix.
Of course, it sounds like you're beginning to come around to that view. Don't be afraid to go all-out with it.
Re:Ron Paul (Score:3, Interesting)
Agreed. His up-front position on health care and indeed, his belief in a totally mercantilist approach to running a country is crazy. I've visited a number of states which allow the spirit of competition to dictate even simple things like zoning laws, and I must say having seen chemical factories leaking across the street from kindergartens and gun shops in largely residential areas offered just about the most intensely insane experience I've ever had the misfortune of living through. --And the people living there for the most part didn't even have the perspective to realize that the reason the levels of fear and anxiety, (which were right through the roof by contrast to where I live in the Great White North), were directly related to this sort of misguided belief in some kind of half-baked Darwinism. The reason we don't live in the jungle anymore is that we have evolved the ability to make rational decisions and to set order in places of chaos. If people refuse to use their ability to do this, then maybe they deserve to revert to living like savages in a kill-or-be-killed jungle environment which ruthlessly punishes everybody but that very small percentage occupying the top rung of the food chain. --And people wonder why there are such high rates of violent crime in the U.S. Seemed pretty obvious to me. I was glad to get out of there.
If somebody grafted Ron Paul and Michael Moore into one politician, then maybe there would be some hope for the U.S., but as it stands, it's just heartbreaking to see Ron Paul as the one guy in the running who is sparking real hope in so many people.
-FL
Re:The price of oil is still too cheap (Score:3, Interesting)
Meh; talk is cheap. Let me know when you actually move.
I used to think like you do, about how much is farking wrong with this place and how other countries seem to 'get it' better than we do on so many issues. But then working for an international megacorp, I *do* have the fortunate opportunity for extended stays in other countries from Sweden and Germany to the Far East.
Now, with a little more maturity, I'll continue to insist that very, very many things in the US are messed up, but I'd still rather live nowhere else. I own a 3400 sq ft, 5 bedroom home (roughly 340 sqm for you Continentals) for which I paid (in 1993) $105k, on the edge of a major metro area. Everything I could possibly want - from clear, drinkably clean fishing lakes, to ample farmer's markets with locally-grown produce (4-5 months of the year anyway), major sports, drama, and commercial venues are all within 1 hours' drive (sadly, no mountains tho). Within 4 hours drive I can be in a wilderness where I have camped without seeing another person or even a contrail of an aircraft for more than a week.
And yes, our government's screwed up. But there aren't any places in the world that I can think of where a government is MORE restrained from accomplishing anything than here, and the longer I live, the more I see that is a great thing.
Re:Ron Paul and the war (Score:3, Interesting)
Lotta those weird "deist" types in there, somehow.
Have you noticed how um, nonexistent GWB's rational thought processes are? Easy decisions, sure -- go with the gut! And it works. Hard decisions... uh, pray? And then go with the gut? Or just listen to my buddies?
I don't know how sophisticated Ron Paul's critical thinking is, but honestly -- any creationist has to have a serious disconnect with the real world. This is the guy we want dealing with the many science-heavy issues we have to deal with? This is the guy we want leading the US foreign policy (dealing with lots of other countries full of, holy shit, heathens and infidels)?
Sorry, but no. When he blogs about "churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance", that sounds like his religion might affect his politics.
And it's slim pickings for rational candidates nowadays, but it'd be pretty hard to convince me the Creationist is the bright spark among them.
Ted Stevens (Score:3, Interesting)
Did I miss something about Stevens? Did he say something outrageous like like propose logging every packet in order to help fight terrorism? I mean, it can't just be the "series of tubes" thing, right? Look, I like Jon Stewart as much as the next guy, probably more so, but continuing to make fun of him like that just seems to make it apparent that there really wasn't all that much to make fun of. I mean, the guy uses a perfectly reasonable analogy to convey the point that the Internet itself is merely a conduit of information, and is not responsible for the "dump-trucks" full of crap that are congesting it, and all of a sudden he becomes the poster-boy for elderly computer illiteracy? I don't get it.
Does anyone here really think Stevens was under the mistaken impression that the Internet is physically implmemented in the form of hollow cylindrical tubes through which we push little capsules containing IP packets written on paper, like at the drive-thru teller at the bank? Can I get a show of hands? Anybody?
Please, please, please tell me it's not just the tubes thing.