Re:Waymo begins driverless rides in San Francisco
by throwaway0a5e on Wednesday March 30, 2022 @12:50PM
(#30857737)
History is littered with the stories of people who thought the end justified the means. The 20th century eugenicists thought they were improving humanity. The people who tried to civilize the natives with Christianity thought they were saving them from eternal suffering. The "if the .gov doesn't get involved things will go to shit and you'll be sorry" stuff you are saying is basically what people who were ardent proponents of things like restrictive zoning were saying and we all know how well that worked.
I'm not saying don't do anything. I'm saying it's more than ill-advised to get the vast resources of the modern state involved in things on the whims of "experts" because hubris abounds.
Re:Waymo begins driverless rides in San Francisco
by freedomben on Wednesday March 30, 2022 @01:13PM
(#30858034)
I think you and GP are both right. The Trolly Problem is legit and real. OTOH humans (especially those exercising any sort of power) are grossly incompetent, arrogant, and good at leaving trails of suffering behind them.
I also think you're not really disagreeing. GP is talking about specific implementations while you are talking about high level philosophy.
Look, I invest in companies that stand to benefit in this transition and I want my stonks to go up -- but I'm horrified by the apathetic excuses people toss out to rationalize ignoring the externalities. Strengthening the safety net is the least we can do. "What if we get it wrong?" sounds an awful lot like "it's gonna cost money and I don't want to pay" to my ears.