Ask HN: Does your job make the world a better place?
In my previous job I helped wonderful people do questionable things. I worked in ad-tech in a company that was overflowing with friendly, intelligent people who were a joy to work with. But as we got deeper and deeper into the tracking, click-bait, SERP pages and marketing for gambling apps it just got harder and harder to justify. I'm not saying it's the only reason I left but every day I stayed I received constant reminders that I was fostering addiction, tracking people, and/or just wasting their time. Did I help make a lot of money for the mainstream media? Yeah. Is THAT even a good thing? Sometimes I'm not so sure.
I like to ask whether I’m making a gun, a hammer or a pencil. Technically you can use any of those for good or bad, but you have to jump through a few more mental hoops to justify the gun. I try and stick to pencils.
I'm less worried about objects, and much more worried about systems. For example systems of surveillance, systems of oppression, and systems that are used to kill.
For example take the targeted killings in Afghanistan: In my mind the person facilitating the database(s) that enable the Taliban to go door to door to exterminate people is much more at fault than someone who repairs or builds firearms. The gun is an interchangeable tool in a long chain of events that leads to oppression, the database is not.
Absolutely, a good way to approach this. I like to use the Tarot Cards of Tech[1] to inspect complex products.
well if your end-user for pencils is john wick, it's gonna be a very interesting debate.
Yes, but clients might disagree. I've been on a contract with my states unemployment office trying to help them manage the overwhelming number of claims that are still over 10 times the normal filing level. It's frustrating at times looking at the systems in place and wondering how they kept up under a normal load, but I can see where my work has helped people get paid and avoid getting sucked into a cycle of debt, and that feels good.
Yes. My work is designed to make the world a better place. Each product tends to have fairly small install bases, but makes the world better for a significant number of people.
However, it's been making my life worse. I assume could make far more money with almost certainly less stress and hours helping track people around the internet and selling ads (or something equally horrible). Is it particularly hard to swap from the do-gooder life track to the "I got more money and time for toys and fun" life track? Have people gone that way or (or the other way?) Am I deluding myself?
My current job is in biotech, writing cloud software which helps clinicians (and researchers) gather supporting evidence for their diagnoses. The install base is small, so it'd be hard to claim it makes the _world_ a better place. But it's a start.
I'd love to do more with it, because the software could actually help discover and refine the biomarkers which would inform diagnoses, instead of the other way around. But the FDA (and other similar regulatory bodies) have strong opinions on the distinctions between Clinical Decision _Support_ software, and _Diagnostic_ software. I think this job could have a much larger impact, but it's going to take the industry another 10 years worth of iteration to get comfortable with how modern cloud software changes medical device development.
My job before this was in ad tech. Another poster said everything I would, so I'll just say No, nothing in ad tech makes the world better.
Before that I was a teacher at a for-profit university. This is a harder call. I had a measurably positive impact on students, who have turned around and had their own positive impacts on the world. (I regularly see at least one former student here on HN.) But I left the job, at least in part, because the financial burdens the students were bearing wore down my enthusiasm.
Before that, I worked for a company which made office and art supplies. We had some pretty good school supply programs, and I got to see kids light up when we brought in boxes of paints and clays. Arguably, this job made the world better, albeit in a small way.
At university every single one of our research grant proposals claims that we will make the world better. I mostly cannot believe the stuff I am writing myself. It is part of the public funding game. I am actually happy to work there, because at least we mostly do not do too much harm to the world (except maybe for lots of unnecessary traveling).
Yes, I made blurweb.app(https://blurweb.app) so far impacted more than 2200+ Professionals/business
Then i launched sendsimple.app(https://www.sendsimple.app) so far impacted few 100 but with sendsimple I want to make cold email marketing as simple as using google sheets.
I am also working on other apps you can find the list here https://twitter.com/indianappguy/status/1429157263353126912
I used to think so; loved it, helping people. Fixing the broken things. Technical challenges, helping people learn, and fulfillment. Because I hate myself, it filled me up, but I don't know how to care anymore.
I just quit a job with an oil company. Couldn’t do it. Felt wayyyy too shitty
My first job was with a pharmaceutical manufacturer, I wouldn't go back to those type of institutions, healing materials need to be handled way differently.
I don't think I would do very well working for an oil company either but I did end up in oilfield services for a while, even though my motivation is completely toward alternative energy.
One of the interesting things I noticed was that the toxic atmosphere of the refinery enviromnent began to be abated quite a bit earlier than the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1990, largely due to the newer oil company employees being more aware of their position in a lucrative industry which could actually afford to operate more cleanly. To the extent the more environmentally-aware employees have had an impact, in hindsight it appears to be more effective than the actual regulations were.
You should have smelled it before.
And I know what kind of materials I am smelling.
Sometimes more effective change can be made from the inside.
Yes, my work company delivers car battery or jumpstart service for stranded cars, I work on the website/app that allows user to book them.
Not sure. If you work for a large company with a diverse set of products I'm not sure how you could ever be sure.
For example, is a car company making the world a better place? I guess it depends on your world view... but it is pretty easy to answer yes or no.
But maybe you are asking to gauge how many people are working in a place where they know(think?) they are making the world worse?
No. I work in finance IT. It might help some people, but I wouldn't say it makes the world a better place.
I used to be the IT guy for a trade-show company, I felt pretty good about that one.
Then I made gears, we did a lot of repair parts, saved a lot of old machines from the junk heap in that job, so another plus.
It'll be interesting to see what I end up doing next.
Yes, public service involving kids.
Despite elements of the public constantly accusing us of otherwise, I and everyone I work with genuinely and deeply cares about doing the mission as cost-effectively (funded by taxes) as possible.
I really hope it is. But I also recognize I'm a human and my prediction abilities are extremely limited and short sighted.
So I think humility is the right answer here, therefore - I don't know, but I really hope so.
No it's completely useless. But a company pays me a decent salary for my skillset, which allows me to live and enjoy the fruits of society and earth. Not bad for now, but need to get the Ikigai flowing.
Ehh, on a macro level.. does advertising help make earth a better place. I’d guess no.
On the micro, we do have thousands of happy customers whose business are more profitable, so those folks’ worlds are much better places.
Yes and I'd say the same for my previous job. Prior to these positions I spent years in the CATV industry and I still feel bad when I see people living their lives in front of the boob-tube.
If the world were a better place, my job wouldn't need to exist.
I'm a code monkey at a power company. Don't mess with the SCADA or anything that deals with power directly, but I'd argue I could be doing worse for the world.
The power grid has saved a lot of resources and lives... otherwise we'd have everyone with DIY stuff, burning coal, trash, and who knows what else, steam explosions all the time, etc. The optimization of heat rate alone saves tons of Carbon going into the air.
Well, we're reducing paper use. An unnecessary amount of AI and blockchain went into this, but we'll probably save about 40 trees from being cut down.
No. People don't need another enterprise solution which is just a repackaged version of last-year's, someone-else's enterprise solution.
If I didn't think my job improved people's lives, even a little, and did no harm, I couldn't stay in the job.
Yes, my job is this product: https://moodistory.com
I would like to think so !! Media & Entertainment brings joy & hope to a lot of people with movies and TV series.
I built a sexual health website once.
Apart from that I wouldn't say much I've created has made the world a better place.
my current one (for the next week+), is mostly harmless.
i'd say most of my jobs have been.
and some have been insanely diabolical. some household names (think, banks), some small unknown tech companies that were in some way or another data brokers, etc.
my guess is that most people think their company is fine-ish or even good.
i would suggest most people are wrong.
Yes. For loose definitions of the word 'better'.
Inherently we aren't good or bad, but just provide tools to do things with.
Our users have built some pretty positive businesses though, so I'd say yeah.
Yes.
No.
It certainly makes it less shitty for people.
Yes.
Yes.
The worst thing to come out of tech industry is the attention economy, because time is all we have. A tech job shouldn’t be about wasting people’s lives. By not participating in this vulgar scheme I make the world a better place
Nope, but in fairness, it doesn't make it particularly worse.