Agree with the other comment - I know what you're talking about with having the lock click go away at the program level, but I've found that now that I can build things so much faster I'm getting that same moment when figuring out systems and how they interact and what's the next piece of the large puzzle I can figure out.
We are almost the same age, it seems, and with an identical origin story. My Dad brought home an Apple II and my path was set -- with a detour to get a physics Ph.D. along the way, but programming won out in the end.
There are different clicks, but they are still there, at least for what I do. The agent does not hold the entire system in its head or understand all the business tradeoffs. Maybe that will happen someday.
I can’t relate to the joy you describe, but I am sorry for your loss.
To me, there is no principled distinction between craftsmanship and toil. It is a subjective experience. Still, we can mourn things even if they were not important in some objective sense, but just because they brought a feeling that we liked. Ultimately, it is the feelings that cause the importance, not the other way around.
I feel you are a joyful person and I am sure you will find so many more sources in this new world.
I’ve found new joy in research, which has never been more accessible than now.
but does not it mean that now you can continue writing software - in a more efficient way - and, for example, find a new joy in some new, unknown craft, that you are free to pick up from a set of all the crafts available for picking up by humans, and go through this amazing process again? one could argue it is a win-win
Sorry, but this just makes me sad as I read it, and I came into this world 20 years later than you did. It's like reading about someone who has been building hand-carved furniture for 4 decades, and is now over the moon that they can just assemble some IKEA stuff. I'm well aware y'all don't think of it that way, and my reaction to all of this is emotional, but it's just not at all how I want to do this. If the AI bubble doesn't burst, if this really is the way software will be built from now on, I'm out, time for a new career. 😔
Trust me that I do understand, and often feel the same way. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a major change, and we’ve all got some reassessment and even grieving to do. Good luck
Agree with the other comment - I know what you're talking about with having the lock click go away at the program level, but I've found that now that I can build things so much faster I'm getting that same moment when figuring out systems and how they interact and what's the next piece of the large puzzle I can figure out.
We are almost the same age, it seems, and with an identical origin story. My Dad brought home an Apple II and my path was set -- with a detour to get a physics Ph.D. along the way, but programming won out in the end.
There are different clicks, but they are still there, at least for what I do. The agent does not hold the entire system in its head or understand all the business tradeoffs. Maybe that will happen someday.
I can’t relate to the joy you describe, but I am sorry for your loss.
To me, there is no principled distinction between craftsmanship and toil. It is a subjective experience. Still, we can mourn things even if they were not important in some objective sense, but just because they brought a feeling that we liked. Ultimately, it is the feelings that cause the importance, not the other way around.
I feel you are a joyful person and I am sure you will find so many more sources in this new world.
I’ve found new joy in research, which has never been more accessible than now.
https://jordanmrubin.substack.com/p/researching-for-pleasure
but does not it mean that now you can continue writing software - in a more efficient way - and, for example, find a new joy in some new, unknown craft, that you are free to pick up from a set of all the crafts available for picking up by humans, and go through this amazing process again? one could argue it is a win-win
Sorry, but this just makes me sad as I read it, and I came into this world 20 years later than you did. It's like reading about someone who has been building hand-carved furniture for 4 decades, and is now over the moon that they can just assemble some IKEA stuff. I'm well aware y'all don't think of it that way, and my reaction to all of this is emotional, but it's just not at all how I want to do this. If the AI bubble doesn't burst, if this really is the way software will be built from now on, I'm out, time for a new career. 😔
Trust me that I do understand, and often feel the same way. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a major change, and we’ve all got some reassessment and even grieving to do. Good luck