“but if most of the blue collars ultimately adapted and survived”
They didn’t though right? That’s why we have Trump promising to reindustrialize America?
Also if I read Terence’ criticism correctly, he echoes a concern that I have that AI will provide a short term sugar high but in the long term slow down progress.
This is written from another country, our development was different. The problems were similar, but the country was smaller and overall economic growth good enough to give you a chance to catch up.
That said, a lot of the American blue collars adapted as well, usually by moving out of the Rust Belt and doing something else somewhere else. That is why so many industrial cities shrank compared to the 1960s. Only these people are scattered and not noticeable; they don't form a consistent voter bloc and cannot elect their candidate anywhere, as there is no coordination among them.
You will always notice a group more than a scattered set of people, and someone speaking aloud vs. thousands of the silent ones.
But I believe that the Hillbilly Elegy was a hit precisely because many more people have some roots in a similar community and it is part of their family heritage, even though they are New Yorkers or Angelenos now.
This is my response to Terence Tao, from a perspective of someone who grew up in a collapsing industrial city and went on to study mathematics.
“but if most of the blue collars ultimately adapted and survived”
They didn’t though right? That’s why we have Trump promising to reindustrialize America?
Also if I read Terence’ criticism correctly, he echoes a concern that I have that AI will provide a short term sugar high but in the long term slow down progress.
Something like: https://www.normaltech.ai/p/could-ai-slow-science
This is written from another country, our development was different. The problems were similar, but the country was smaller and overall economic growth good enough to give you a chance to catch up.
That said, a lot of the American blue collars adapted as well, usually by moving out of the Rust Belt and doing something else somewhere else. That is why so many industrial cities shrank compared to the 1960s. Only these people are scattered and not noticeable; they don't form a consistent voter bloc and cannot elect their candidate anywhere, as there is no coordination among them.
You will always notice a group more than a scattered set of people, and someone speaking aloud vs. thousands of the silent ones.
But I believe that the Hillbilly Elegy was a hit precisely because many more people have some roots in a similar community and it is part of their family heritage, even though they are New Yorkers or Angelenos now.