[markles]

The lack of empathy the HN community has really shines through in many of these replies:

> There were no doubt quite a few nail makers pre-industrial revolution that took pride in making consistent, quality nails.

> And nothing of value have been lost.

> LOL at the reply a couple posts down, where OP admits they work at a mobile shovelware sweatshop.

[wsc981]

Yesterday I visited an old, but still reasonably healthy man who has been living in Thailand for 40 years now, maybe longer. Reasonably healthy as in: he doesn't need to visit hospital or use medicine, but his power is now waning a bit due to age.

A man originally from Switzerland. 88 years old now. When he arrived in Thailand he bought a nice plot of land and made a quite beautiful garden there, with many fruits and vegetables and trees. Also many salas spread throughout the 8000 m2 terrain. And chickens, dogs, cats walking around and about.

The man has had quite an adventurous live in the past, back when the world was more adventurous as well, perhaps ...

Anyway, the man is content just tending to his plants. And reading and writing in one of the salas that he uses as a (kind of) outdoor office. In the past he also used to paint, but he's not able to do this anymore.

Maybe we'd all be happier with just a nice plot of land and some plants to tend to and perhaps some hobbies to keep us busy. And maybe it would keep us healthier (both mentally as well as physically) as well.

[johnwalkr]

What's your point? Many people would be happy if they are lucky enough to be born in a wealthy country and save a bunch of money by the time they're 48 and retire, move to a poorer country and be happy tending a garden. Not many people are this lucky and it will be harder going forward as such desirable cheap places are becoming less cheap rapidly, and less accessible. "Golden visas" in such places are under scrutiny as they are just driving up real estate prices with little benefit to locals.

[biztos]

Also foreigners can’t own land in Thailand, so while I hope the Swiss gentleman has many more years of happiness, it was never his garden, which might be a turnoff to the techno-libertarians out there.

[wsc981]

Not 100% true, foreigners can own up to 1 rai (1600 m2) once they gain citizenship (which takes a bit of effort and a lot of time).

[biztos]

My working definition of “foreigner” excludes Thai citizens, though maybe it’s more subtle than that: I didn’t know naturalized citizens were subject to ownership limits.

[stemlord]

I won't be able to afford a plot of land without a job. I feel like we're on the verge of cataclysmic unemployment and I have absolutely no desire to wait in squalor for legislation to catch up with the nifty little UBI idea floating around which seems like should have been sorted yesterday.

[bryanlarsen]

An acre of farmland costs $2000 in North Dakota. You need 5000 of them to make a living growing wheat, but an acre should be enough to feed a family, maybe a few more if you want meat.

[CydeWeys]

Being a subsistence farmer is terrible though. There's a reason 99% of Americans stopped doing it just as soon as they were able to. It's certainly not a comfortable retirement!

[PragmaticPulp]

Whenever somebody claims it would be easy to feed a family from some small farmland, it’s very clear that they’ve never had to live anywhere near that lifestyle. It’s terribly difficult and unpredictable.

[Aeolun]

50-70 bushels of wheat per acre. $7.5 dollars per bushel of wheat.

Still, every year you’d have like 2 tons of wheat from your acre. You’d be able to live on that, even if your diet is a bit colorless.

[wsc981]

I think growing a single crop is risky, makes it harder to be self-reliant. My girlfriend grows many different fruits and vegetables, so we’re less bothered by the price changes each season or year. And we can be sure our own food includes a lot of organic produce.

[kcb]

Nature destroys crops = dead?

[7speter]

Yesterday? Everyday since 2020 people on here and every other forum on the internet have been blaming the $1200 check for bringing on the apocalypse

[SECProto]

> Maybe we'd all be happier with just a nice plot of land and some plants to tend to and perhaps some hobbies to keep us busy.

And enough money saved up to buy land in Thailand and retire at 48, without worrying about how he's going to pay for taxes for the rest of his life, or how he will buy food to supplement what he's growing in case of issues there, or...

[RDaneel0livaw]

"Maybe we'd all be happier with just a nice plot of land and some plants to tend to and perhaps some hobbies to keep us busy. And maybe it would keep us healthier (both mentally as well as physically) as well. "

And where is the fantasy world where "we all" have enough money for this?

[coffeebeqn]

Also you forget that there are 8 billion people who would need some acres of arable land

[wsc981]

I don’t think huge wealth is needed, but it very much depends where you buy the land. Coastal land or land near big cities will be much more expensive than land in a remote village.

[blackoil]

This romantic affair works only for rich. Pretty sure the man also has maids, support staff and vendors working for him.

[wsc981]

He has not, but has a wife and daughter. Possibly other kids. I did not get the impression from him that he was rich, but he did get lucky to buy a large plot of land for cheap due to:

A) living in a remote village

B) Currency conversion

The house itself was also pretty cheap, being a traditional Thai wooden house and not particularly huge.

[patja]

Sounds like the conclusion of Candide. When confronted by the misery of Pangloss' best of all possible worlds, we must cultivate our garden.

[rcpt]

No. God no are you kidding? Subsistence farming? We did that for thousands of years it was horrible.

[JeremyNT]

Sadly, we are not headed to such a future. The economic benefits of these LLMs will go only to the capitalists, and any labor savings will allow them to reduce wages and headcount while leaving workers unemployed or with less bargaining power.

AI will be yet another tool to further wealth inequality. We won't be able to afford retiring and tending to our plants.

[chriscappuccio]

Solution: be a capitalist

[borissk]

This is a solution that will work for a very small percentage of the people - those who were born in rich families and those who are a lot more driven and/or smarter and/or luckier than the average.

What about the other 99%? As they say a revolution is three missed meals away...

[kmeisthax]

/r/stablediffusion is arguably worse. Lots of people on there who have active disdain for any human (non-AI-assisted) artists who complain about AI.

It's like watching 17th-century Parliament winge about machine breakers.

[scotty79]

> It's like watching 17th-century Parliament winge about machine breakers.

It's really hard to avoid this because nearly everything about it the same each time.

[sheepscreek]

All is not lost. I am sure many of us do care. I feel the frustration and pain of the OP. And I am someone not easily swayed by emotions.

The shift that’s happening right now will have far reaching consequences. I often ask myself “at what cost”, but one can ask that question for any major invention in history.

[the_only_law]

Wait till more developers are being affected and their pie in the sky ideas about the future don’t come true. I promise you the tune they’re singing will instantly change.

[drowsspa]

Yeah, clearly developers think they will come out on top...

[CommanderData]

It frightens me but some are just devoid of the ability to be empathic, even if it's to be empathic against their future selves.

People really do argue themselves aggressively into points that exploit themselves without any benefit.

[Hnrobert42]

I think you are seeing what you want to see. When I read your nail maker quote, it did seem bad. When I read the full comment, it seems much more sympathetic.

[rcoveson]

The first one is a little unoriginal (but this conversation has been had a bunch so it's hard to fault it for that). The second two we were all working on downvoting and had them near-invisible until you quoted them, restoring their reach. :P

[anigbrowl]

Very true. Much as I like AI on the technical side, I also look forward to the howls of outrage when some large model comes for the smug squad. coding, trading, management are all eminently replaceable skillsets.

[barrysteve]

He doesn't need empathy. He needs to find a way through to a better advantage over AI. I'll give him compassion as he struggles through.

Creating static images (that do not require a significant amount of visual depth and perspective) is a dead art form. The market will accept flat looking images as long as they're drowning in detail, and AI can generate that.

I'm taking a stab at what's next, he needs to (take a stab too) and skip over the loss of love for an out-of-date computing skill.

[the_only_law]

> I'm taking a stab at what's next

And what does your crystal ball tell you that is?

[ChatGTP]

I’m a world where you have no “value” you become trash to those who “do business”, it won’t be a pretty transition. I’m concerned about it personally.

It wouldn’t be a problem if most people just respected each other, I think deep down inside they do. But while those paying our “wages” are an important part of our lives, we’ll have trouble.