Farmers vs. Nomads…
As far as mental models of software development go, Eric Raymond laid down a beauty when he penned The Cathedral and the Bazaar. But what about the software developers themselves. We’re all farmers or nomads, according to this great essay at Milking the GNU. You have to read it through for context, but it ends with a brilliant question…
Paradoxically, the battle for food, energy and low-impact industries is still at the center of this future. But this is not a battle of farmers versus nomads anymore: we will always need farmers and we will always need nomads; only this time, this is up to the nomads to lead the way. If they succeed our society will be able to transition towards a new age, a new way to live (in peace) together. Finally, the only really unknown parameter is that of time:
Can nomads bring us the hope of a self-organized hyper-democracy before the collapse of the post-industrial world as we know it?
Yes.
What? Too optimistic?
May 14th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
In order to do it we have to be able to break the conventional model of education which is designed to crush the genius of our youth and grind them into products optimized for use in the industrial infrastructure.
It’s going to take a generation or two before critical thinking skills re-emerge as the norm, and everyone on average can see through the bread and circus distractions that typify the “non-negotiable American way of Life ™”.
I have hope, and a daughter who is still free of this corruption, as near as I can tell. The next 3 years are going to be the tough ones.
–Mike–