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Anger, Anxiety and Agency
gist
Armin Ronacher agrees that anger at work rarely helps, then answers how anyone in tech can avoid it amid AI. He treats anxiety as a reasonable response to an uncertain craft, while anger needs a target and often picks the wrong villain. Uncertainty can become curiosity and experiment; many AI gains show up as side projects, not company profits. Ownership grants agency without foresight, so leaders often project certainty they do not have. Real harms remain, but resistance should wait until curiosity has shown where it belongs.
ideas
- Anger at work is a poor instrument. It can signal a problem, but it usually harms people who cannot change the cause, and a small mutiny against a shared company vision does not help.
- Anxiety fits this moment better than anger. It names an uncertain craft, workplace, and future without requiring someone to blame.
- Uncertainty can become curiosity. Poking at the new machines can lead to interest, then excitement and a feeling of power, especially in personal side projects.
- Agency is not foresight. Owners and managers can act and speak with confidence while remaining privately unsure; public certainty is often a bet.
- Learn before naming a villain. Some will profit and larger harms are real, but resistance should wait until experiment has shown where it belongs.
quotes
“Anger can be a useful signal, but being angry at work rarely improves the situation.”
“Anxiety as an emotion does not require someone to blame.”
“Ownership comes with agency, but it does not provide foresight”
“It turns a loss of control into a comforting story with a villain.”