Post #1944370

2026-03-11 11:35 UTC

Why / where do aesthetic things have practical value? Well, I *think* the answer is: the dress code. When you make a product, you have to "dress it up" in a particular way. If you make toothpaste, you have to give it nice packaging, a picture of a smile, etc etc. so people know you take "making toothpaste" seriously. A stock tube with a brown box does not scream "quality". Part of that reason is also artisanal. You want to associate yourself with artisanal work, so you say "well I'm an artisan so I used these other artisans to create this thing for me". Perfume needs a nice bottle, etc. People will smell it and say "yes this will smell nice because the bottle is nice". Overall, aesthetics matter because aesthetics signify that there is both skill and attention paid to a thing. Hopefully it's clear that this kind of job is only really "replaced" in the sense that some artisans are liars. They want to pretend to work with other artisans while not really doing so. They want a nice looking bottle but actually it's mass produced. They want to scream "quality" but it's actually low-quality goods manufactured the same way as all the other low quality goods, but with a veneer of authenticity. Engineering itself is kind of artisan work. The difference is that there are standards bodies which tie into regulations and they protect the quality of the work. I don't need beautiful fasteners, my screws are instead standardised and meet certain specifications. The interaction from artisan to artisan is actually the interaction of standards which connect to each other. Systems of systems, interconnected. That is, engineering is itself a system! That's how electrical engineering works. There's a term "jellybean component" to mean "standard components to the extent that you may not even know the manufacturer". That's how civil engineering works. There are types of concrete or steel and they meet specifications. Don't do it, and it's painful for the manufacturer. There are checks and balances and regulations and this is why buildings don't fall down. Except, the system of engineers isn't filled only with engineers. It's filled with businessmen, charlatans. They say "well we could make more money if things were non-standard". "Well, we could make more money if we lied about so and so". "We could just claim to be secure but really who's checking?". Most types of engineering have somewhat avoided this fate, but software hasn't! Hopefully it's clear to see these lies have a parallel to artisans. Realistically, engineering is about having rigorous connections to other engineering, same as it's about artisans valuing other artisans, which in turn increases the value of their own work. 3/n

Replies (1)

@bakuninboys@aus.social 2026-03-11 11:46

From an engineering perspective, this is anathema to engineering. You've made the system which creates systems less efficient. At some stage, you maybe start to chop away at the efficiency of the efficient things we build, same as cars need an input, so do efficient things need an input: Engineers! Without that, there's less sustainability. OK that was the epiphany but now that I wrote it down it feels like maybe it isn't coming across. We're in a domain where we're talking about purely hypothetical things, symbols and trust and connection. It is a hypothetical space which is fractured and ruined by skullduggery. No one is building a "thing", but in order for engineers to build things which are sustainable, efficient, which are "systems", the entire job of the engineer, their raison d’etre, you need a broader ecology of trust, standards, and regulation. But capitalists say regulation is bad. They say it slows people down. This is the opposite of true, hopefully you can see that based on the argument. Actually, we're giving up sustainability for nothing. We literally don't gain anything (other than a few rich guys raped some children). This also ties into degrowth. Green Growth is the idea that you just keep doing a skullduggery and magically efficient systems will start to exist, but that cannot be true. Degrowth says "stop", and when you start to concentrate on efficiency, on actually reducing, then you actually gain something. You get systems. These systems start to connect. They become more powerful the more they connect to each other. It's an ecosystem. You can plug into it. There is already an ecosystem with plants and animals and energy exchange and life and death and our true destiny as engineers is to plug into it because systems don't work in a vacuum. This is why bicycles are great, because they tie into human motion. Hope that makes sense. 4/4

Open ##1944371