alt Hacker NewsDouglas Adams really put it best:
> “I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies,” writes Douglas Adams in The Salmon of Doubt.
> 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
> 2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
> 3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
Replies
I chuckled when I read this. Being 55 I tend to think this is true. But I realized when looking back the things I accepted when growing up, even though they were normal, I now notice that they have had a detrimental effect on society.
So, Although age tends to have this effect on how we see the world, and some of it probably not to worry about. I think there is part of this awareness that has some wisdom and is trying to protect our species..
you need not stick to any level. Some things that always have been are still bad (slavery is an obvious example now dated enough to be uncontrolversial). Some new things are bad and others good at any age.
don't grow up too set in your ways to not learn the new. But do grow up fast/young to get some cynicism for everything. now that I'm in my 50s the first is important but when younger the later was important.
That's probably true to some extent, but I'm not completely on board.
> 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
Television and calculators were in the world when I was born, but I never viewed them as "natural". TV always seemed to be a way to distract yourself from the world.
> 2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
I was happy to get on board with the WWW, the web browser, and widespread email usage. Those were revolutionary technologies with immense values. On the other hand, I'm still not on board with text messaging, phone scrolling, or social media. If I could, I'd eliminate social media from society.
> 3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
I'm over 50 and a strong believer in the value of the LLM. It's a work tool that I can use at work and put away when I'm at home (or not, depending on my mood). It's new and exciting and revolutionary and a move in the right direction for humanity.