Programmer and Human

I’ve become an avid bus rider in the past six months. Partly because I can put my earphones in and listen to a podcast while I catch up on work during the drive. The WiFi enabled long-haul buses that Cincinnati Metro are the next best thing to walking to work.

One podcast in particular has come to my attention: Team Human. All of our technology comes at a cost, I was cognizant of that before. I didn’t really think about hidden costs of our infrastructure. The people that build and recycle our devices are, as likely as not, harmed by their employment. The amount of energy we expend to power our devices and provide the always present cloud is really astonishing.

Most of my day is spent working on systems that are intended to make you desire consumer package goods, and then sell them to you. My success is measured by how many more goods that each visitor buys. I see all of the parts and processes that are involved in getting your dish soap and crackers from manufacturer to your door. I also see all of the GPU cycles needed to predict your needs and fine tune your search results.

Given that my main reason to work is to provide my with the means to travel, hike and camp with my family. I am not sure that means are going to justify the end.