Ask HN: Is this the worst time to be human?

Don't Take the Black Pill - Andrew Kelley | SSW 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLZwpH5lCD4

True, but not exactly a new thing

How is it all going to play out? I have no idea. Career advice? Stay flexible and willing to learn, but I can't give any concrete advice.

It's the best time.

I think the world is what you make it, in Western countries (standard caveats like disabilities). I empathize with misery experienced in other places, but it has nothing to do with AI. It has to do with humans, bad decisions, power monopolies.

Anyone miserable in America is choosing it, or very unlucky.

Riots over chariot races burned or destroyed half of Constantinople in 532: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots

A volcanic winter started in 536: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter_of_536

Plague of Justinian began in 541 AD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Justinian

I’d also rather live now than in China during the Taiping Rebellion.

I don't think you're arguing this is the worse time in all of human history to live, but that this period we are now entering broadly speaking is the worse for our humanity in many ways.

I think the latter could be true, at least for some of us. There's many things that gave my life meaning which I've abruptly stopped doing as a result of AI – and no one has given me a good reason to want to continue pursuing those things.

- I used to write a technical blog and published technical books. There is absolutely no point in me doing this anymore. I've spent years of my life writing and I'd now advise people to use AI over reading anything I've ever written. Acknowledging this makes me physically hurt because it was a huge sense of pride for me in the recent past.

- I used to write music. I'd argue there's absolutely no point in anyone wasting their time with music now. Unless you're extremely talented AI is going to do a better job than you. Unless you get a kick out of prompting AI to produce music or enjoy creating subpar music there's no point.

- I've spend decades of my life coding. It's my number 1 passion in life. It's the thing I loved doing more than anything as a teen. But I no longer code. AI is broadly superhuman at all coding, and even where it's not it's quite there yet it's far faster for me to tell AI what code to write. This isn't remotely enjoyable, but I'll do it for a while more just for the money.

- I used to do a fair amount of casual photo editing and VFX for people. It was a bit of a side hobby from when I was a teen, but I was decent enough. I'd never do this anymore. For almost all small projects people are better off using AI.

Elsewhere I no longer ask humans to do things for me:

- I don't need to pay human to design things for me anymore

- I don't need humans to pay humans for translations

- I don't need to pay humans for technical knowledge I don't have

I genuinely don't know what people are doing on computers where they're finding meaning anymore. For me I'm just checking out and growing my own food, building furniture, raising my chickens, etc. None of it gives me creative meaning, but at least I feel like I'm accomplishing something.

My sense is that AI appeals to the types of people video game cheat codes appeal to. If you feel satisfaction from completing games with unlimited health, then you probably love AI. I'm not that person. I like things I do to be hard with high barriers to entry. If I can talk to an LLM and do something it's pointless in my eyes.

However, I think we may live in the worst time in terms of predicting one's own future, as well as the future of our children. I haven't managed to have kids, but if I had any right now, I'd have no idea on how to guide them into adulthood without effectively bullshitting them in some way. My advice would probably end up being 10x worse than Boomer advice, even if I tried my very best to be in touch with the times. For instance, if my hypothetical son told me that some day he wanted to be a programmer like I am, how am I supposed to encourage him without straight up lying? My role already is very different than it was a couple years ago, and it may have little resemblance (or not even exist at all) in another decade. The same goes for my first career as an animator; the need for those skills is rapidly going extinct. Animated 99.999% of animated content will undoubtedly be created by people who know absolutely nothing about what we understood to be animation fundamentals up to now. I really have to wonder how any young people today can be motivated knowing that their career might as well be over before they even attend their first university class.

This is a revisiting of a question that has been asked many times.

The Dollar was completely debased to it's current fiat status in 1971, and now buys about 2% of what it used to. Real wages have fallen as labor supply was almost doubled thanks to the influx of women into the work force, and reduction of demand due to automation starting in the 1960s.

However, this is the best time to be alive, on average. If you can get it, modern medicine performs at levels that would have seemed miraculous a century ago. Even if you're broke, antibiotics and other over-the counter drugs can save you from things that would have killed our ancestors. They routinely died from scratches that got infected, parasites in the water, and malnutrition.

If you live below your means, and associate with others who share that goal, you can have a quite happy life.

As far as college, it's not worth it unless you're going to be a Nurse or an Engineer. (Not a programmer with stolen valor, that's a different job, and you don't need a degree)

There is a lot of sht coming at us that our monkey brains are just not equipped to deal with. Doomscrolling dopamine loops, big tech & their algos, AI misinformation (and job fears)

If a major war kicks off or the financial system collapses...then yeah worst.

For the end of the world was long ago, When the ends of the world waxed free, When Rome was sunk in a waste of slaves, And the sun drowned in the sea.

When Caesar's sun fell out of the sky And whoso hearkened right Could only hear the plunging Of the nations in the night.

When the ends of the earth came marching in To torch and cresset gleam. And the roads of the world that lead to Rome Were filled with faces that moved like foam, Like faces in a dream.

And men rode out of the eastern lands, Broad river and burning plain; Trees that are Titan flowers to see, And tiger skies, striped horribly, With tints of tropic rain.

Where Ind's enamelled peaks arise Around that inmost one, Where ancient eagles on its brink, Vast as archangels, gather and drink The sacrament of the sun.

And men brake out of the northern lands, Enormous lands alone, Where a spell is laid upon life and lust And the rain is changed to a silver dust And the sea to a great green stone.

And a Shape that moveth murkily In mirrors of ice and night, Hath blanched with fear all beasts and birds, As death and a shock of evil words Blast a man's hair with white.

And the cry of the palms and the purple moons, Or the cry of the frost and foam, Swept ever around an inmost place, And the din of distant race on race Cried and replied round Rome.

And there was death on the Emperor And night upon the Pope: And Alfred, hiding in deep grass, Hardened his heart with hope.

A sea-folk blinder than the sea Broke all about his land, But Alfred up against them bare And gripped the ground and grasped the air, Staggered, and strove to stand.

He bent them back with spear and spade, With desperate dyke and wall, With foemen leaning on his shield And roaring on him when he reeled; And no help came at all.

He broke them with a broken sword A little towards the sea, And for one hour of panting peace, Ringed with a roar that would not cease, With golden crown and girded fleece Made laws under a tree.

-----

G. K. Chesterton - The Ballad of the White Horse - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1719/1719-h/1719-h.htm

To answer your question being born in Eastern Europe (Poland/ukraine specifically) in the late 19th century might be the worst time/place to be human.

You say AI is making our creative pursuits feel meaningless?

How many creative pursuits do you think the average person had throughout history when close to 50% of people died before age 5, fewer than 10% of people could read, women and minorities had close to zero rights, the average worker was impoverished and farmed sunup to sundown to barely eat and avoid famine, there was little treatment for diseases (infectious or otherwise), common people could be conscripted for war at a moment’s notice…I could go on.

You think the average person in history spent their time painting and writing? These are luxuries 99% of people who ever lived could have never dreamed of.