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A comment on Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming? by trevyn on Friday May 19, 2017 @03:45PM (#14378804)
I honestly think it is very difficult, if not impossible, to assess the individual value of rank-and-file work to society as a whole.

It is easy to build something and say "this helped family X, or this powered Y homes", but there are so many externalities that are simply hidden. What if family X is part of Nation Z, who is about to start thermonuclear war W?

It's just a guessing game at that point. It seems that most people ignore it under the guise of "well, I do the good that I can", but it's false comfort, IMO.

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Re:Ask HN: How can I do social good through programming? by brenschluss on Saturday May 20, 2017 @12:26PM (#14383100)
Sure, it may be an educated guess, but we have to try.

It's better than the alternative, which is to assume that any job that pays (and thus is from a company that earns profit) has equal impact or externalities with all other companies.

A lack of clarity shouldn't be an excuse for not trying.

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