This would quickly turn into the same shit as when the pulled Zuckerburg in front of Congress. Evade any question they can, if pressed throw massive amounts of technical and marketing jargon at them, and then use the few friendly morons on the committee to make some positive sound bytes. It would be a three ring circus of nothing at the end of the day. Congress largely does not understand things on a technical level and refuses to bring in experts to explain it to them unless they can score political points easily. This is absolutely something they should be looking at and regulating, but it won't happen any time soon.

I would still argue that isn't a reason to try and halt the gears of progress. People have to take an interest in bettering themselves and their own future, and if they refuse to do so out of simple stubbornness to adapt then we can't bend to their will at everyone else's detriment. If these people are not retraining because of cost or other external factors however, we need to work on removing those barriers. The reality of a free market that so many claim to enjoy is that you have to go where the work is if you want to compete. Industries grow and shrink all the time.

Not really. There are a number of jobs that spring up around it and more work is getting done overall (efficiency is a funny thing like that). Now I don't disagree that retraining is necessary for the displaced workers, but that hardly a reason to run shrieking into the night about automation being the devil.

Competitive edge mostly. I've worked in the automation sector for quite a while and like I already said, lower level jobs do disappear, but newer high level jobs take their place. It would be absolutely idiotic for a company to automate something and then say, "Well, lets just sit back and collect our money now." Because their competition will then quickly turn around, do the same automation, then take the next step of reinvesting the cost savings into improvements in the product line, data analysis, or a hundred other things.

Then to address your second thought, ever programmed a PLC for any of those three functions? They require a VASTLY different bit of logic and a shitload of different equipment. The controls engineers can likely transfer their programming knowledge just like a software developer, but there is a lot more to it than just a handful of engineers mapping the problem. I can't waive my magic wand and suddenly know the exact process we are automating, what equipment is required, service said equipment, do the work analysis, etc. Automation does not happen in a vacuum and as soon as everyone understands that the sooner we can move past this absurd idea that it will take all of our jobs.

I disagree with this idea entirely. It is horribly misguided at best and dangerously reckless at worst. I've written about this at length in other posts. Automation is merely the latest technology boogeyman. Throughout human history we have continuously invented machines that make work easier and that would 'displace workers.' I'm sure the people that hand drafted books got concerned when the printing press became a thing. The loom certainly must have worried old school tailors and such too.

A decent and competent company does not use automation to just get rid of their labor force entirely. Often times it reduces cost in one area and then the newly freed capital is put somewhere else in the business to improve the product offering, most commonly new jobs. Data analyst, technicians, engineers, fabricators, electricians, consultants, and so many more have jobs are specifically built around the industry of automation. The menial jobs of "carry item from point A to point B" are replaced with jobs that require specialized skills, and eventually the cycle begets itself. Automation in current form has been around for over 30 years, yet somehow it hasn't made even the slightest dent in the job market, I wonder why?

By implementing a tax, especially at these crazy levels, basically they are discouraging innovation in industries that are ripe for it and removing the opportunity for new jobs to even be created. Corporations are definitely taxed at low rates, but this is not how that needs to be fixed as it just incentivizes them to dodge these improvements (or worse yet, find a way to circumvent yet another tax). Essentially this will just keep the shit jobs alive and remove chances for people to actually move up without artificially improving it through other government policies (I feel so dirty saying this...). There are some things like healthcare that the government SHOULD be managing and improving, but I feel it is a mistake to entirely eliminate capitalism from the wage market (just create a decent floor and give people opportunity to improve themselves).

I agree with a lot of things coming out of the Democratic party right now, but this DEFINITELY isn't one of them.

Or, as I stated, if you pulled this with someone in the workplace you should get reprimanded/fired and let the rest of us continue having civil interactions. Funny how you can't seem to see the forest for the trees. Maybe you think that all the stuff I'm saying is impossible and absurdly idealist because you don't know how to have civil interaction with others. I honestly feel bad for you if you genuinely believe the world is all so toxic and that doing something like this is normal or acceptable. Even if you really think this is the 'reality' of how people act, shouldn't you as human being strive for better? Ah, I suppose I shouldn't engage in such philosophical debate with you since clearly you don't care...

Excellent refutation of my thought process and associated points. You're criticizing me for essentially speaking in generalizations and yet offer nothing but "everyone knows this is bullshit". Really, so you know that for a fact and yet feel the need to even say anything? You're exactly the type of person that causes this shit to get implemented.

Actually it doesn't. When someone does something stupid you do exactly what you're supposed to: reprimand them and if it continues fire them. Just because someone is a petty and petulant child that can't let go of something doesn't mean everyone else should suffer and accommodate that behavior. Blanket banning certain topics and behavior is basically the old scapegoat so that management can skirt commitment and responsibility. It is just easier for them to punish everyone and eliminate future potential occurrences because a few idiots can't control themselves.

You're also trying to take this to a logical conclusion that is neither assumed nor required. I have been through these scenarios with people plenty of times and everyone got along and was able to get work done after the fact because we were fucking adults about it and accepted other people might have different views and experiences from us. Maybe it is anecdotal, but so is everything else being presented or it is just people's assumed preference.

Not only that, ivory tower? You're certainly assuming a lot about me that is flatly wrong and pretty condescending. I don't come from some wealthy group or have some cushy executive position. I'm speaking from working blue collar jobs and white collar office jobs as a non-manager.

You're kind of cherry picking my post there. I covered this already. A giant bitter argument is inappropriate in the workplace whether it is about the president being racist or it is about whether a stupid dress is blue/black or gold/white. Again, SOME of us are capable of hearing a conflicting view point and not turning into a giant green rage monster.

Ah yes, lets trot this trope out again. Companies love to act like they as an entity are "part of society" all the way up until it is inconvenient for them to have their employees be a part of society (or the company itself). The companies certainly care about how the country is governed, what laws/regulations are passed, and will actively engage in that when it is to their benefit, but god forbid an employee do that even outside of work... Even if you're on the clock it is insane to expect someone to only do 100% work related activities and discussion for every second they are sitting at a company. We are PEOPLE before we are employees and that has to be considered, so no I don't buy that argument.

You can disagree, but we are both sitting here posting on Slashdot during work hours and I would bet a king's ransom you are not always doing only work related stuff while at work. I'm not judging you for it, just pointing out I don't feel like these types of RATIONAL discussions should be excluded just because of subject matter.

I feel like you're conflating being able to talk about with being required to talk about it. I personally don't have an issue if someone doesn't want to talk about politics and different viewpoints like this as that is their right, but I don't think I agree with banning it altogether. In my experience, if someone doesn't want to talk about it often times it is as simple as saying hey I don't really want to get into this here/at all and it is left alone. If the other party proceeds to press after that request is made you have every right to be upset and take issue with what they are doing though.

If people are capable of having a calm, rational discussion about a topic however, I don't think it is an issue. If the policy is aimed specifically at keeping people from being flaming assholes to each other just because one believes differently then that isn't really a problem either imho and is really just reiterating what should already be known, when in the workplace act professionally. As with many things, people abusing the guidelines ruin it for everyone when this is really covered by already established workplace etiquette (or at least should be established, I can't speak for all companies obviously).

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic...

The vast majority of people spend a LOT of time with co-workers and since we have a 40 hour average work week that can end up being the largest share of your social interactions in a given week. If you are completely restricted from talking about larger societal issues it basically ingrains in your mind to not talk about them most of the time, therefore degrading that type of talk outside of work as well.

The less people talk about important issues, the less educated they are on those issues leading to a lot of problems due to various psychological effects. This can easily create an echo chamber because a person will not want to hear challenges to their views if they only discuss them a few times a week for a few minutes. Diversification of viewpoints leads to a lot more understanding between groups and usually a lot more harmony and understanding.

Now don't get me wrong, having a knock down, drag out, argument at work is not a good idea, but I also don't believe the answer is to simply shut everyone down. I'm fairly liberal but that doesn't mean I refuse to engage with conservatives. In fact, many of my closest friends are VERY conservative and I have civil discussion with them about lots of political issues all the time. They might get a little heated occasionally, but we don't get into screaming matches over it. In my opinion, if you want to keep people from turning into political rage monsters common engagement with opposing views is very necessary so that they understand why other people feel the way they do and don't get sucked into the talking head ideology that the "other side" is trying to destroy the country. Some idiots absolutely do go to those extremes, but they are by far the minority for both side of the political spectrum.

Not entirely true: https://www.nspe.org/resources...

They had a PE starting back in 2013, but due to a lack of exam takers and virtually no regulation enforcement they discontinued it this year. Software engineer has also been a recognized term since the 90s, but it is very loosely regulated. I do agree however that there is a lack of regulation/enforcement of regulation and it shows in a lot of ways...

Imagine power outages... People's heart could literally stop if they don't get it back on in time...

... This is called a privilege escalation vulnerability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.... While you may mock this, it is not something to scoff at. Attackers routinely daisy chain exploits/attack vectors in order to achieve full system control and this is a pretty serious issue given it is ingrained in all Windows applications with an interface.