Nina KalininaFeb 8
We have reached a new era of civil engineering; now we can build bridges by simply dumping truckloads of shit into the river until the shit mountains are tall enough that some people and maybe cars can cross the river. Truly, it is a revolutionary technology that democraticizes access to bridges; now everyone can dump a truckload of shit over small rivers here and there and cross the rivers instead of asking an engineer to build the bridge for them. This approach completely removes all the bottlenecks in engineering, too: no need to navigate difficult legal or ethical frameworks. The biggest players on the market are staring to replace their bridges with shit mountains, you'd better be catching up and learning how to use this new groundbreaking technology. Some of you have ethical concerns, but this is beyond of the scope of my post. I also recognise that some might notice fish in the rivers dying, or simply slip on the shit; just you wait, I bet it'll be fixed in ~6 months
Show threadNina KalininaFeb 8

Look, there are lots of skeptics out there, but the shit mountains are becoming really useful these days. With just a shit mountain or two you could reach places that previously required a ladder or a bridge or a vehicle. The vehicle part is still out of reach, but in the future we can make shit mountains placed in such a way that, when we pour some shit between them, would allow us to reach the destination almost as fast as cars and boats. And it runs on shit, and as you know, shit is virtually free, you can literally go to a number of websites and get the shit for free. You can even get open-sourced shit these days, and pour it locally. Open source shit mountains are not as good as the commercial ones yet, but we're getting there.

Anyway, the bottom line, shit mountains are here to stay. Learn how to live with them.

Show threadBakunin Boys
@nina_kali_nina legit question: how did civil engineers do it? Capital wise they have the same incentives, why do buildings not fall over all the time?
Feb 11 at 9:34amWeb
Show threadNina KalininaFeb 11
@bakuninboys civil engineering is a profession with thousands of years of history. The first known regulations for it were introduced about 3700 years ago, apparently, and since then it evolved into a highly regulated area that requires practicioners to have mandatory certifications and follow the laws. It seems the laws were added or improved due to large-scale disasters caused by engineers (building or bridges collapsing, fires spreading faster than they could be put off). Software engineering could have leveraged existing engineering practices, but lack of regulation and rapid development of the profession mean that finding creative ways to bypass law is still more profitable than doing things the right way. Civil engineers still do that every now and then; in this aspect, comparison to asbestos usage might be relevant.
Show threadBakunin BoysFeb 11
@nina_kali_nina so I guess pushing for better regulation and actual responsibility for harm would improve things? Like most software limits liability as much as possible right?
Show threadNina KalininaFeb 11
@bakuninboys probably, but that doesn't come naturally, unfortunately