I think JD Vance has plenty of charisma.
Wait. Do you really think that or are you being sarcastic?
Readit Newskj4211cash commented on Surely the crash of the US economy has to be soon wilsoniumite.com/2026/01/... · Posted by u/Wilsoniumite
It's interesting how polarized this comments section is. Lots of people claiming a human driver would definitely have been driving slower. Lots of people claiming statistics show that human drivers do worse in this scenario aggregate. Of course neither side presenting convincing evidence.
The statistically relevant question is: How many human drivers have hit children near elementary schools, since Waymo's last accident?
If Waymo has fewer accidents where a pedestrian is hit than humans do, Waymo is safer. Period.
A lot of people are conjecturing how safe a human is in certain complicated scenarios (pedestrian emerging from behind a bus, driver holds cup of coffee, the sun is in their eyes, blah blah blah). These scenarios are distractions from the actual facts.
Is Waymo statistically safer? (spoiler: yes)
Please read this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-01-06/are-auton...
Spoiler: we definitely don't know yet whether Waymo is statistically safer
Slowing the adoption of much-safer-than-humans robotaxis, for whatever reason, has a price measured in lives. If you think that the principle you've just stated is worth all those additional dead people, okay; but you should at least be aware of the price.
Failure to acknowledge the existence of tradeoffs tends to lead to people making really lousy trades, in the same way that running around with your eyes closed tends to result in running into walls and tripping over unseen furniture.
But we have no way of knowing whether robotaxis are safer. See, for example, the arguments raised here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-01-06/are-auton...
We can't blindly trust Waymo's PR releases or apples-to-oranges comparisons. That's why the bar is higher.
I don't get the logic of cleaning dishes BEFORE putting them in the dishwasher.
I do it and recognize that the logic is flawed, but it's a habit and just looks and feels correct at this point.
kj4211cash commented on The rise of industrial software chrisloy.dev/post/2025/12... · Posted by u/chrisloy
> you still needed the captain driving the ship.
The question is more what becomes of all the rowers when you’re switching from captain + 100 rowers to captain + steam engine
They’re not all going to get their own boat and captain hat
But were there ever 100 "rowers"? In this case, the commenter would have developed the website him- or herself instead of using AI. And it would have taken a little longer but probably been higher quality. In my experience, most developers are already capable captains and most of their job is "captaining." One of their main complaints is managers who treat them like rowers. AI just shifts what it means to captain?
kj4211cash commented on Toll roads are spreading in America economist.com/united-stat... · Posted by u/smurda
Thank you for your perspective. May I ask why you don’t still teach? I have always been fascinated by the idea of being a professor but never had the dedication to get a phd
I had a 3 year appointment overseas and could only get similar offers for my next job and only in places I didn't really want to live. Also my father was a professor and, to be honest, it was hard not to notice how much worse the job had gotten. Started to seem like twice the work for 10 or 20 percent of the salary and impact, as compared to tech. Also I was starting to have misgivings about transportation engineering as a field. So I guess just a lot. But I do miss the freedom to research what I thought was important. And teaching too. Honestly, academic jobs are more appealing to me now, in terms of lifestyle fit, than they were previously. I still apply for academic jobs occasionally but lately haven't gotten close to getting one. Don't get me started on the academic job market or application process. Ha!
kj4211cash commented on Toll roads are spreading in America economist.com/united-stat... · Posted by u/smurda
I took a transportation engineering class a while back and one bit of knowledge that stuck with me is tolls are the only effective traffic relief mechanisms for a roadway. Other mechanisms like adding lanes just invite more cars and traffic is not relieved. I never checked whether this was true, but sounded reasonable.
Former transportation engineering prof here. This is exactly right. And for many transportation engineers, it's a reason to support toll lanes and to oppose adding (other) lanes. But I agree with some of the other commenters here, that adding lanes supports greater movement of people and goods and, separately, that toll lanes are regressive and come with plenty of (other) issues that are often ignored. My personal take on this is that toll lanes and congestion charging are the most effective methods we know for relieving congestion BUT that they are an incredibly difficult sell politically and maybe for good reason; maybe their issue are worse than the congestion they mitigate.
I started because I wanted to think about transportation policy but my work as a Data Scientist wouldn't let me. I continued because a colleague convinced me it could help position me as a thought leader and get me a new job or engagements. More recently it's been a way to complain about the absurdities of mega corp life, awful past coworkers and jobs, etc. without being too obvious about it (hopefully).
But also I have always enjoyed writing and producing. Just passively consuming the internet leaves me feeling a little empty. Also I hate the short, singular point of view, short attention span, social media, everything we say and write getting neutered and just made worse by communications and legal departments world.
Is this just US Digital Service V2?
That was my first thought too. But they can say that this one was created by their administration. And is more AI.
I'd love to hear from people who had experience with USDS before this administration. The chatter I see online is overwhelmingly positive. OTOH, I interviewed with USDS and the experience was not good. I don't love tech interviews in general but this one was somehow worse. I remember thinking the interview would have made more sense if they were hiring for PMs, but I wasn't a PM and didn't want to be one. Focusing on my communication abilities and professional history is one thing, but this ... wasn't that. I always wondered if others had the same experience. Maybe I just had the wrong interviewer on the wrong day.