Comment by hirvi74
4 hours ago
I'd be lying if I said I was not worried about the future. I am not necessarily worried in the sense that there will be some grave, impeding doom that awaits the future of humanity.
Rather, I just feel like I have to constantly remind myself of the impermanence of all things. Like snow, from water come to water gone.
Perhaps I put too much of my identity in being a programmer. Sure, LLMs cannot replace most us in their current state, but what about 5 years, 10 years, ..., 50 years from now? I just cannot help be feel a sense of nihilism and existential dread.
Some might argue that we will always be needed, but I am not certain I want to be needed in such a way. Of course, no one is taking hand-coding away from me. I can hand-code all I want on my own time, but occupationally that may be difficult in the future. I have rambled enough, but all and all, I do not think I want to participate in this society anymore, but I do not know how to escape it either.
If you work in any new technology field, the chances that your job will exist in the same way 50 years from now is very small.
The job, as you have done it at least, was also not here 50 years before you started doing it.
Did you have any of the same feelings knowing that you were doing a job that has not existed in the world very long? That seems like a strange requirement for a meaningful job, that it should remain the same for 50+ years.
In truth, our world and what we do for our careers is entirely shaped by the time that we live in. Even people that ostensibly do the same thing people have done for centuries (farmer, teacher, etc) are very different today than 100 years ago.