https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23436077

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23436085

Do we need fancier widgets or people with the capacity for and appreciation of human development?

Is the world suffering from a lack of scientific progress or a lack of sophistication in human problems?

Do more people suffer from depression or insufficient software quality?

Do you think that the people who develop software could benefit from exposure to wider philosophical thought or from a better IDE?

Outside of technology, are we better, more capable human beings than we were 100 years ago?

It's alarming that many STEM-natives think the wider human experience isn't worthwhile. It's a prerequisite for progress.

Technology is just tools, and tools are means to an end. What's the end we're shooting for? That's the humanities.

Finally, as someone trained in the physical sciences, I used to look down on social scientists. I no longer do this. At least they're brave enough to tackle a complex monster with the limited tools at their disposal, stumbling and even enduring ridicule from the hard sciences. We ignore the human mind and collections thereof, because it's too complex and prefer the relative comfort of simple, predictable systems. I don't believe that's good.