saved
The last time my family was replaced by technology
Hraness wrote this summary from a saved copy of the source. Quotations are taken word for word from the source.
gist
Manuel Darcemont compares developers’ AI anxiety to his great-great-grandfather, a farrier in Mandres-en-Barrois who became a mechanic when cars arrived. The essay argues that the family kept helping people get around while changing tools, and asks whether software love was ever only about writing code.
ideas
- A farrier became a mechanic without abandoning the job’s purpose. After cars appeared nearby, Darcemont’s ancestor shifted from shoeing horses to engines while still helping people move.
- Past tech shocks were local and personal. Farmers met the tractor next door, and farriers met the car, without a global feed to amplify the dread each morning.
- Family memory smooths the break. A century later the garage feels continuous, and Darcemont’s father loved the work as if it had always been there.
- Survivorship limits the lesson. Not every farrier became a mechanic, and the essay refuses to treat one lineage as proof that adaptation is automatic.
- Hold the why when the how moves. Many developers wanted to make games or sites before they learned syntax, so the durable drive may be making and solving rather than typing code.
quotes
“My great-great-grandfather thought he’d be replaced by technology too.”
“The desire came before the code.”
“Be willing to let go of the how to hold on to the why.”