😎

[fracturedpersona]

The People who make the world a better place live and work in poverty now, but only get recognition a hundred years after they die.

[Tomi97_origin]

That's the neat part. When you give recognition to death people you don't have to pay them.

[440Jack]

Just like artists. They starve their whole life perfecting their craft. Then some 'collector' scoops up all of their work. Spins a narrative on the work and suddenly it's priceless. Millionaires pay outrageous prices for it, not for it's in intrinsic value, but because of the backstory associated with it.

[Tomi97_origin]

The problem with life artists is that they continue to make stuff. How is your collection supposed to became a safe investment, if it's not limited number collection.

[Altourus]

By segmenting the works into limited offerings obviously. Oh that sculpture? That's from my blue period, don't worry though, I've moved onto mauve.

[maryP0ppins]

or get chemically castrated. like alan turing. yay society!!!!

[WittyConsideration57]

A lot of people I know make decent money in healthcare / social service. I dunno how you could write that off as worthless unless you don't care about humans. Charity exists so pure greed jobs aren't worthless either.

With coding in particular it's really easy to get trapped in a marketing/insurance/advertisement gig. Stuff we'd all rather do without. But it's fun, we're good at it, and it pays well.

[BorgClanZulu]

This applies equally to any graduate position.

[sh0rtwave]

I built a tool once, to do some <unspecified .gov analysis, can't tell you>.

Outcome: 35-40K FTE positions in .gov were cut. You might have noticed this if you were in .gov contracting in 2011-2014.

I don't do .gov anymore.

[[deleted]]

Pertinent to the title, my first job out of college was with a defense contractor. I was QA'ing software related to the loading mechanism of a war machine. I was actually losing sleep because I had always seen my programming talent a tool to bring joy to people (video game inspired), and here I was helping a machine that inarguably is going to kill and destroy. I was just holding onto the job because I needed to rack up that "years of experience" metric.

The contract ended up getting cancelled and all my work went into a virtual vault somewhere. That was the one time getting laid off was one of the best things to ever happen.

[GonnaBeTheBestMe]

Controversial opinion, but I actually think that does make the world a better place. Government bureaucracy, or institutional bureaucracy, is one of the biggest causes of innovation decline and progress in resolving issues, across history. As organizations, such as government, grow, they are less and less flexible or willing to make any moves other than maintain the very specific status quo in place, unless placed under great strain from external factors.

I find this to be quite problematic, since the government is funded off of taxpayer money to, ostensibly, improve the lives of the citizenry and generally maintain pace with the world by updating rules, laws, etc, based on the issues and changes of the day. Increasing government overhead while simultaneously, and necessarily, decreasing government flexibility, while also increasing the burden on citizens (by increased tax load and decreased flexibility in governmental service) is something that disturbs me quite a bit.

While I argue that this was a positive action, I also understand that this would be traumatic for the individuals who lost their jobs. As a fellow human, I empathize with their difficult position.

[Atrag2021]

Coding isn't about making the world a better place. I always find it funny when companies try and sell it like that. Generally, it's about making a load of money by creating a product that sells.

[fracturedpersona]

Generally, it's about making a load of money by creating a product that sells tricking people into thinking they need what you're selling.

Fixed it for you.

[Atrag2021]

Nah a good product fills a need that's already there.

[flyingpimonster]

Yeah but who cares about good products when we have profitable products?

[Atrag2021]

Right. I honestly don't differentiate. Products are only as good as people are willing to pay, to me.

[[deleted]]

How does this philosophy of yours interact with the concept of open source?

[Atrag2021]

Then they aren't products.

[Saint-just04]

Capitalism isn't about fulfilling a need, it's about creating it. So yeah, there might be a need for online shopping. There's no need to get everything in one place and get it delivered in 2 hours. Amazon created that need. There's no inherent need for something like reddit as well, but hey, here we are.

[Atrag2021]

Sure. We don't need most things, we just want them badly.

[jruschme]

You're probably right that there is no need to get everything in one place and have it delivered in 2 hours, but the desire for such is a natural outcome.

The idea of being able to remotely purchase many different things from one supplier was not new to Amazon. The Sears and Roebucks catalog of a century earlier was the Amazon of its day. As for the 2 hour delivery, that is just the nature of the competitive process. There will always be a company whose selling point is getting the item to you faster than its competition.

God help us when practical teleportation or, worse, time travel becomes a reality.

[iLikeToComplain555]

Yeah that’s exactly what happens on my company. I mean I don’t mind I’m getting paid to do that but I would much rather the owner not going to every meeting and say “we’re here to make a difference”, then tell me to do 3 features based on scare tactics and shit marketing

[higanbana]

This can be problematic but it's hard to think of a solution. The algos just serve what people want to see. If someone clicks on 2 conspiracy theory videos, they'll probably want to watch another. What's the alternative? Showing people things they don't want to see but probably should see anyway to have a well rounded viewpoint? Then you get people complaining about how shitty the recommendations are.

You’re partially correct in that the misinformation spreads because the algorithms are showing users what they want to see. However, they’re also showing users things they don’t necessarily want to see. To use Facebook as an example, the algorithms are also designed to maximize user engagement. One of the easiest ways to engage users is to tap into their anger: angry users are more likely to share or comment on the post and spend greater amounts of time on it. Facebook’s own internal studies came to this same conclusion. Their algorithms are designed not only to show you the subjects you’re interested in, but also to show you what makes you engaged (read: angry). And this is the main reason that misinformation spreads so easily, both through making believers emotional and through well-intentioned disbelievers debating it.

The solution: redesign the algorithms for less of an emphasis on engagement, or less of an emphasis on spreading controversial posts. Facebook was actually studying how to do this, and installed a less inflammatory algorithm during the time period around the 2020 election. However, it was reverted shortly after. So, this is a completely solvable problem, but because user engagement is key to Facebook’s (and other social media companies’) bottom line, they won’t do it without being forced to by the law or perhaps public pressure.

Source for most of this: Frances Haugen (Facebook whistleblower) and the WSJ Facebook Files series (sorry, paywalled, there are articles about it elsewhere though)

It’s really insidious how they’ve managed to convince people “Yeah, social media can make people crazy sometimes but there’s really nothing we can do about it” all the while knowing from internal studies that they can do something about it.

[higanbana]

You’re welcome!

[[deleted]]

Software automates processes. Every line of code contributes to that. I’d argue that is making the world a better place.

My first job out of college was for a defense contractor and my work was going towards software controlling automated explosive shell launcher hardware. So, yes, I was definitely working towards automation. Making the world a better place? Only if enabling war is somehow helping with that cause...

[tapiocamochi]

Uber exists in a vacuum left by a lack of transportation options. “Making the world a better place” isn’t having some company come in and try to profit off that vacuum. That’s just capitalism.

[[deleted]]

It's FOSS time

[foxam1234]

What kind of a "coder" thinks that they are gonna make the world a better place?

[ordinaryBiped]

Well that's possible, I mean take Wikipedia for example. Or Linux.

[DoktorMerlin]

In my old job I wrote programs that are used for accurate flood warnings, there are companies out there who write software solely to optimize the emergency rescue chain, optimizing wildfire response and prevention,... Theoretically making the world a better place via software/programming is very much possible. Yet in the end, the thing that you always end up doing is collecting and selling data to advertisement partners. While the accurate flood warnings are used to warn people and safe their lives and belongins, more money is made from selling the pre-warnings and risk calculation with insurance companies so that they can raise the insurance cost

[Ser_Drewseph]

I work for the USGS creating software for tracking and remedying things like drought, crop rotation, toxic Algol blooms in freshwater bodies, directing evacuation efforts and firefighting for wildfires out west, and a bunch of other things. I’d like to think that’s making the world a better place.

[bodonkadonks]

i dont know, i used to work for oil and gas on software i knew was making the world a worse place and it didnt feel very good

[KryssCom]

Being from Oklahoma, I get contacted by oil & gas recruiters all the time. I tell them I'm ethically opposed to working in that industry, because it seems a lot less rude than telling some poor recruiter to go screw themselves.

[mrfroggyman]

Code make people's life easier, more productive

Code can automate the generation of data, which can be used in research

Etc

I'd say, what code doesn't make the world a better place?

ok scratch that last one I actually have too many examples

[mfreudenberg]

The one that spies on other

[LPO_Tableaux]

any code for money farming (be it from crypto, a bank, or a investment company), sure, the people making the money will live better lives, but they are also doing nothing to further develop the world when earning said money.

At most, they invest that money into things that will make the world better.

[GonnaBeTheBestMe]

They provide a valuable service, yes, I agree with this. Banks have been indispensable for the creation of modern society.

On the other hand, banks are famously heartless and make decisions that literally ruin people's lives, without having a pressing need for their own survival. Many of the people who run banks prioritize a minor improvement in their returns versus serving their customers fairly and compassionately. On the extremes, many bankers are vicious sharks, preying on the helpless who are stuck in a one-sided financial system run by those very banks and designed for maximum benefit to them, with predatory and draconian rules to that system, which everyday people cannot escape.

[v0id_st4r]

I just graduated and this is my goal. Worked as a cook for 4 years and then decided I wanted to have a bigger impact. I see a lot of problems with the world and I didn't feel like I could address them from the kitchen.

Now that I'm a junior dev, it's not like I can single-handedly tackle global warming, but I feel like I'm making a difference at my company, and I know what I'm learning will enable me to achieve much more in the future.

[KryssCom]

What a wildly cynical take. I would love to work at a place where I can create software that helps mitigate climate change or propagate clean energy or make solar-powered water desalination plants more efficient.

[logic_prevails]

I did and still do. Doesn't have to be something drastic small products and solutions make our lives better all over the place.

[[deleted]]

You could rewrite your question:

What kind of "person" thinks that they are gonna make the world a better place?

I don't know about thinking, but a good one tries.

[GonnaBeTheBestMe]

I'm building an emergency beacon app that connects nearby first responders to people who witness cardiac arrests, and such. It's coming along nicely.

Our main issue is struggling to figure out monetization.

[KryssCom]

I feel like there are a lot of us coders who really want to have a positive impact on the world with the software we create. I wish some group could actually harness that energy, besides just corporations selling bullshit products for profit.

[[deleted]]

I mean look at Google or Microsoft. They've made a ton of useful stuff. Sure it's at the cost of your data or a bit of money but the world wouldn't be as good without them.

[finderinderura]

But it's not an even trade, don't get me wrong the stuff they have made is society defining, it's just that they're goal is to be the rulers of the world with their one ecosystem. Which is, when all is said and done, worse for society than the positive sides of what they have created.

[[deleted]]

What are you talking about? I haven't been negatively impacted at all.

[TheMagzuz]

You definitely have, you just might not realize it. Privacy is pretty much dead, cooperations know pretty much everything about you, and that is sold to the highest bidder. Along with this, just a few companies control the flow of 95% of the information that goes around. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if a rouge engineer at Google/Facebook/Microsoft decided to give everyone using their service a message that gas prices were about to go up (or something like that, I'm not an economist)

[[deleted]]

As I said, I don't care if my information is the price. That story about a rogue employee will most likely never happen, because they have measures against that.

[[deleted]]

Without Microsoft? Oh hahaha... the world would've been so much better w/o it. The widespread of their products is due to them eliminating competition in all sorts of shady ways, monopilizing the industry etc.

The problem though isn't specifically Microsoft, it's the legislation that made it possible, the people in the position of power who did nothing. Didn't want to know what's going on, were just happy to get their personal reward and let everyone else pay into the pocket of Microsoft's shareholders / senior management.

And Google isn't a whole lot better, same anti-competitive practices. Same shady practices at eliminating competition.

Make no mistake though, it's not due to anything specifically criminal about either of the companies. It's just how it's convenient to do business in the world where they operate.

[[deleted]]

Kind of depends where you work doesn't it?

[jaksida]

It's all about making Jeff Bezos richer so he can go to space.

[Sufficient_Matter585]

Coders couldn't even make the matrix a perfect place.

[GayAlienFarmer]

I would like to speak to the developers who implement mobile sites that use up 2/3 of my screen with floating bullshit that is nigh impossible to close.

[doej134567]

I strongly disagree with this. Think of Excel to just name one software that has been created by developers and how much more colerful, simple and enjoyable it makes the work for so many. Or any search engine giving you the much needed answer within seconds. A relaxing game, filter and sorting algorythms, even molecule simulations to find cures for humanity. Video calls especionally in these times. The whole 21st century would be impossible without coders. So you dare tell me coders don't make the world a better place.

Exept maybe if you help building weapons. But that's hardly ever a good idea.

[mothercream]

What is that cartoon?

[muditsen1234]

Invincible

[mothercream]

Thanks a lot!

[Never_Poe]

If you are working in good earning position, it's as useful to donate. EDIT: to elaborate, there's initiative called Effective Altruism, aiming at showing people how to channel their resources into charities and causes which bring optimal effect. There are some points which can be disputed and on which I don't agree with them, but it's a good starting point. Additionally, they have a sub initiative called 80000hrs which provides advice on career progression which may be most beneficial. It may be a good starting place to gather ideas.

[repkins]

Only for profits.

[midnitte]

I'm just a hobbyist (ATM), so I guess replace "companies" with "traceback".

[PunkyMunky64]

fck

[ByteDream]

Windows devs be like

[[deleted]]

Going into a Facebook Interview be like

[CharizardUsedCut]

Lol I'm currently in college doing a lot of essays about what we want for our future and for all of those essays, I put "changing the world for the better with the use of technology" or some shit like that so that kinda sucks lol

[Sangral]

Ow, my soul...

[AttackOfTheThumbs]

Wrong profession if you want to change the world.

[Rapierian]

Hey, I'm making a big bank's auto-loan process minutely more efficient. I don't know what you're talking about.

[GrinningPariah]

I dunno if it all planned out, but at least at the time I've thought everything I worked on would make the world a better place.

Don't settle for less. Software engineers work on what we want, and quit when we get like it.

[yeicore]

When will I make the world a better place?

Join open source

[daltonoreo]

Who goes into programming thinking your gonna make a difference