Carbon units.

And yes, I realize now that any suggestion amounting to “hey, I think we can trust the Udacity boys” would be appreciated entirely for its comic effect.

Damn your eyes.

Besides, if it doesn’t work out, for whatever reason, I’m sure the invisible hand of the free market will intervene and set things straight.

What really scares me is not that this kind of thinking exists, or even that it permeates the mentality of the movers and shakers in this society. After all, that’s pretty much the way its always been.

No, what really scares me is that this way of thinking has come to be universally accepted, admired, even demanded–even by those who are most likely to become its victims. Our future is not Orwell’s 1984, or Huxley’s Brave New World. It is Gilliam’s Brazil. And it is already here.

When I arrived in Oak Ridge for my audition with the Man I did not own a suit or a necktie. I had a corduroy sport jacket with leather patches on the elbows that I thought looked casually professional, and I wore my best button-down shirt and a clean pair of khaki pants which could pass for sports wear. A brand new set of Sears leather ankle-high work boots completed the ensemble. My normal footgear, my old beat-up Navy brogans, would never have passed inspection.

I told them my luggage had been mislaid at the airport, a lie that will be believed every time, but that I always carried an overnighter with a change of clothes. A shave and haircut completed the deception. I wasn’t about to spend any cash on a new wardrobe until I knew I had the job, but I knew the hair would grow back.

My story was dutifully repeated by each of my interviewers each time I was passed to the next, all the way to the top of the bureaucracy. I doubt it fooled the company president and founder, a man with twin Ph.Ds, in Physics and Divinity, an unlikely combination from my point of view but an impressive gent nonetheless. These guys were heavyweights, I decided then and there I had better keep my mouth shut and learn.

Of course, in those days, I had no online reputation or internet footprint. All they had on me was my transcripts, my DD-214, and the fact I had no police record.

Then there’s this language at the end of the blog post: “…ensuring that companies hire not just the best talent, but the right talent”. Savor that for a moment: “not just the best [people], but the right [people]“. “right” over “best”. Holy shit. What a world they’re building.