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Pythoness Perspective: On Elon Musk and Dates

Pythoness Perspective: On Elon Musk and Dates

"I'm not just concerned - I'm alarmed" - yeah please quote me on that.

Amanda Nelson
February 12, 2025

Hey there, cosmic coders and stargazers!

Buckle up, because we're about to dive into a tech drama more explosive than a supernova. Grab your favorite mug of something strong, because we're going to need it as we unravel a situation that's got this code witch's alarm bells ringing louder than a midnight deployment gone wrong.

So, Elon Musk recently claimed that Social Security is paying out to people older than the lightbulb. But this isn't just a quirky misunderstanding - it's a dangerous spread of misinformation that we need to talk about.

The Technical Reality

Let's break it down:

Social Security runs on COBOL, an ancient programming language designed for basic systems. This was the programming language of the 60s.
COBOL doesn't do dates well. It's like trying to teach your grandma to use TikTok.
The ISO 8601 date standard starts on May 20th, 1875 per the international treaty known as the Treaty of the Metre. This exact date serves as a starting point for calendar date tracking via only digits. “ISO” refers to the non-governmental “International Organization for Standardization”. Not all engineers use the same standards, which can cause issues exactly like this one.
When these systems need to have a number in the system, and the data of birth may not be known exactly it is likely left blank and it is defaulted to 1875 by a system that views “0” or null as May 20th, 1875.

For a comprehensive breakdown of the technical details and conventions behind this issue, I highly recommend watching the video by CJ Trowbridge (they/them) on TikTok. In just 2 minutes and 45 seconds, CJ provides an in-depth explanation that will help you fully grasp the intricacies of this situation: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2SwfNd7/

A Personal Tale of Date-Time Trauma

Now, let me spill some tea from my own coding cauldron. My first professional ticket was adding a future date picker to Zappos.com's e-gift card system. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. This innocent-looking task threw me into the deep end of date conventions faster than you can say "Y2K."

Because our e-gift cards were routing through multiple systems, including marketing and Amazon's gift card systems, I had to become intimately familiar with ISO 8601. I dove headfirst into the world of dating conventions (the coding kind, not the romantic kind), teaching myself why these standards exist in the first place.

Spoiler alert: It's because America is still behind the rest of the world, and we engineers are left maintaining systems that wouldn't need to exist if everyone just got on the same page. The trauma of dealing with date conversions and timezones is a shared experience among software engineers.

So, on behalf of all the engineers who've battled the date-time demons: Elon doesn't know what he's talking about. Stop listening to him.

Beyond the Code: A Pattern of Reckless Behavior

Here's where it gets serious, folks. This isn't just about misreading some legacy code:

Spreading Misinformation: Musk has been actively sharing false claims about elections, reaching billions.
Attacking Critics: He's sued organizations that dare to criticize him, like he's trying to silence the town crier.
Political Meddling: He's endorsed far-right movements and made baseless accusations against politicians.

Why This is Scarier Than a Blue Screen of Death

As a software engineer, I'm not just concerned - I'm alarmed. Here's why:

Platform Power: Musk owns X (formerly Twitter). Imagine if your database admin suddenly decided to rewrite reality, Musk continues to do this every day he is allowed in DC with his team of 20-somethings.
Tech Illiteracy in High Places: When powerful figures misunderstand (or misrepresent) tech, it's like giving a toddler security clearance. (Which by the way, Musk does not have himself.)
Erosion of Trust: False tech claims undermine public trust in critical systems. It's like telling everyone that the pandemic is over… oh wait.

The Cosmic Takeaway

Stay Vigilant: When tech claims sound off, channel your inner code detective.
Speak Up: We've got the knowledge. It's time to use it to call out dangerous misinformation.
Educate Others: Share your tech wisdom like it's the hottest gossip in the coding cosmos.

Remember, in this vast dataverse, we're not just reading code - we're guardians of digital truth. So let's use our powers for good, shall we?

Keep your code clean, your facts checked, and your BS detectors finely tuned. Until next time, may your logic be sound and your integrity unbreakable!

Yours in algorithms and accountability,
Your Favorite Pythoness

Cover image by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash