
Ask HN: How do you find meaning in tech when it net destroys means of living? - anon7429
I&#x27;m having a lack of sense of meaningful purpose and motivation to continue doing anything in tech because it seems like a net destroyer, taker of jobs and concentrator of wealth for the very few, and that participating in it would be complicit in the destruction of countless lives. And not thinking about it or rationalizing it away doesn&#x27;t make the externalities disappear. No mythological trickle down or freed up labor for other &quot;new&quot; job lies can gloss over the chaos and damage caused by software designed to replace people.
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evolve2k
I share your concern. In addition to working to contribute my tech knowledge
in alignment with my values I’ve also got very curious in alternative models
for people to collaborate and work together (and share capital and resources).
Haven’t find the one true magic answer but my enquiries have led me to run and
be involved in many amazing organisations.

ReConsider Havkerspaces, RandomHacks and BarCamps and be curious on those
sorts of models and how you could get involved/grow/evolve them.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_Hacks_of_Kindness](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_Hacks_of_Kindness)

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamps](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamps)

[https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/Design_Patterns](https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/Design_Patterns)

Open spaces like these will help you find your tribe ‘tech people who want to
make a contribution’ from there, there’s stacks you can do to contribute and
learn from those grappling with the same concern.

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cimmanom
Plenty of technology doesn’t replace people. Plenty of it isn’t harmful. Some
tech even makes the world a better place. Yes, the intersection of those areas
can be small. But there are jobs to be had and kept within it, and companies
to be started.

Meantime, why do you need to find meaning in your job any more than your local
supermarket checkout clerk needs to find meaning in theirs? Sometimes you just
need a paycheck. As long as it’s one that’s not hurting anyone else, go ahead
and look for meaning elsewhere in your life.

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evolve2k
I would encourage you to be grateful for the privilege you have in working in
tech and pair that with your personal values of making a positive
contribution.

There are stacks of social issues locally to you and beyond that benefit from
tech improvements.

The technology is progressing anyway, bring your focus to ensuring that tech
is deployed for the greatest social benefit and call others to your cause
you’ll soon find like minded folk.

Anyone have good examples of social projects that are based around using tech
for social good they can share?

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evolve2k
The hive project comes to mind - bee colony collapse is a big issue globally.
This project using raspberry pi to make a simple monitoring tool to improve
colony health and crowd source global data.

[https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/plan-
bee](https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/plan-bee)

