>despite having some FartCoin which has been doing very well lately, shockingly well, this FartCoin. I wonder if it will continue to "moon" to the point where I can quit my job and become a VC and go on podcasts in which I will try to downplay the source of my initial capital so as to maintain some illusion that this economy makes any kind of sense at all to me or anyone else for that matter. Though perhaps by the time I am doing podcasts I will be so far gone I will just own it and maintain that it required great genius to have foreseen the rise of FartCoin and allocated capital to same.
Fartcoin hasn't been doing that well though, I had to check the date of the article and it is recent. Maybe he got in Fartcoin long ago in early Nov. 2024? 200x since then but only a 2x since the end of Nov. 2024.
I also work in AI as a software engineer. I feel bad about what's happening but I'm just getting by and AI is ultimately a threat to my career too. My younger truck driver cousin is doing much better than me financially. He didn't go to university, didn't rack up university debt, didn't have to work nights and weekends for 15 years.
My main problem isn't AI though, it's the structure of the anti-competitive tech sector; which is itself driven by the structure of the monetary system in which it operates.
AI is just yet another tool, like crypto, and other distractions which may be used to further disenfranchise me and others. I don't feel bad about other people because I've been a victim myself and as a tech person, I also get the privilege of being labelled as part of the oppressor class, while being oppressed by them... While working one of the most competitive and mentally-taxing jobs in the history of humanity... Seeing the harms, understanding the problems, seeing the solutions but being so powerless that I'm literally forced to work for the oppressor.
I feel too much pain to feel any guilt. I can totally relate to the comment about 'nice colleagues' but I understand it's a very superficial concept, unfortunately. Our world is so dystopian, even kindness is turned into a weapon. Their kindness is partly what holds this incredibly violent system together as it strengthens bonds between the elites which protect the system. Kindness, kinship and filter bubbles combine to form a moat around a global monopoly on power, violence and opportunities; causing the most unjust, asymmetric treatment of humans in the history of mankind. Topped with layer upon layer of gaslighting which looks more and more disturbing and unbelievable as you move down the social hierarchy and lose your voice and power. We have a system where every person lives in a different reality and yet pretend to live in the same reality. People communicate with words but nobody shares the same understanding of the words; that's how bad the situation is.
> My younger truck driver cousin is doing much better than me financially. He didn't go to university, didn't rack up university debt, didn't have to work nights and weekends for 15 years.
As someone that works in software for the transportation sector, I find it hard to believe this generalizes for the population of each profession. The last few years have been really rough for the transportation business, with rates near rock bottom. Combine this with having to be on the road all the time, the lifestyle of being on the road for a lot of drivers, and you couldn't pay me to do it. I'm quite happy working from the quiet home office.
This is so great, absolutely love the wry inner monologue style:
> There is little less interesting than another man's drug trip. Unfortunately, he's both Arden Vox and my boss, so I try my best to appear fascinated.
There is a lot of unmet demand for AI researchers that don't seem completely crazy. The Manhattan Project, people are wearing suits and ties, they're all aligned with the broader goals of the nation, the madmen who are proposing super bombs with 100 megatons are being corralled into relative containment. At a certain point in history, the development of nuclear power and thus nuclear weapons became inevitable, but so far we've managed to live with this technology without an apocalypse. But in AI development it sometimes seems like every other person is an Edward Teller. There are limits, I think, to the benefits of the open-mindedness of the Silicon Valley culture.
Im enjoying reading this but struggling with the fact that the average number of words per sentence nears 150. I exaggerate, of course. But please, use periods.
I'm glad to see some satirization of the woe-is-me-for-making-hundreds-of-thousands-under-capitalism flavor of techbro in the first few paragraphs. Insufferable archetype.
Hi. I am the author. If anyone is interested in following my writing, especially those not often on LessWrong, consider subscribing to my Substack: https://tomasbjartur.substack.com/
I plan to mirror any future fiction there.
I haven't written much but my next-best stories are likely these:
This is absolutely enthralling. It's one of the best pieces of writing I've had the pleasure of enjoying in quite some time. I keep laughing while grimacing and looking inward. The vocabulary is exceptional, too. Really well done.
It kind of reminds me of Krazam's YouTube skits, but in long-form writing.
EDIT: I kind of wanted more from the ending, though. It wrapped up surprisingly quick.
29 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 50.5 ms ] thread> Some people confess guilt to claim credit for the sin.
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/fartcoin/
Fartcoin hasn't been doing that well though, I had to check the date of the article and it is recent. Maybe he got in Fartcoin long ago in early Nov. 2024? 200x since then but only a 2x since the end of Nov. 2024.
My main problem isn't AI though, it's the structure of the anti-competitive tech sector; which is itself driven by the structure of the monetary system in which it operates.
AI is just yet another tool, like crypto, and other distractions which may be used to further disenfranchise me and others. I don't feel bad about other people because I've been a victim myself and as a tech person, I also get the privilege of being labelled as part of the oppressor class, while being oppressed by them... While working one of the most competitive and mentally-taxing jobs in the history of humanity... Seeing the harms, understanding the problems, seeing the solutions but being so powerless that I'm literally forced to work for the oppressor.
I feel too much pain to feel any guilt. I can totally relate to the comment about 'nice colleagues' but I understand it's a very superficial concept, unfortunately. Our world is so dystopian, even kindness is turned into a weapon. Their kindness is partly what holds this incredibly violent system together as it strengthens bonds between the elites which protect the system. Kindness, kinship and filter bubbles combine to form a moat around a global monopoly on power, violence and opportunities; causing the most unjust, asymmetric treatment of humans in the history of mankind. Topped with layer upon layer of gaslighting which looks more and more disturbing and unbelievable as you move down the social hierarchy and lose your voice and power. We have a system where every person lives in a different reality and yet pretend to live in the same reality. People communicate with words but nobody shares the same understanding of the words; that's how bad the situation is.
As someone that works in software for the transportation sector, I find it hard to believe this generalizes for the population of each profession. The last few years have been really rough for the transportation business, with rates near rock bottom. Combine this with having to be on the road all the time, the lifestyle of being on the road for a lot of drivers, and you couldn't pay me to do it. I'm quite happy working from the quiet home office.
> There is little less interesting than another man's drug trip. Unfortunately, he's both Arden Vox and my boss, so I try my best to appear fascinated.
Almost immediately you know you’re in good hands.
this is the type of magical writing that an LLM can't capture a single iota of.
I plan to mirror any future fiction there.
I haven't written much but my next-best stories are likely these:
The Maker of MIND: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/H4kadKrC2xLK24udn/the-maker-...
The Liar and The Scold https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/duF4Qh9pn7Y5imhsm/the-liar-a...
Of the two, I prefer The Maker of MIND. Both got similar karma on LessWrong and were written ~2021.
It kind of reminds me of Krazam's YouTube skits, but in long-form writing.
EDIT: I kind of wanted more from the ending, though. It wrapped up surprisingly quick.
> I am already feeling tipsy from my second pint of Guinness
The comments under it on LW are a wasteland of incomprehension.