The funny thing about hackers is that they have the intellectual capability to hack their own life, and rarely try.
Users who merely use a computer system don't get that feeling hackers get when they are able to push into that creative realm, to shape and mold a system, often ideas that had not been anywhere. It's that experience of bringing something out of nothing, I think, is what makes coding so much fun. You get to make choices when you code.
But just as you can make these choices when you code, you can do the same for your life. Why else would people flock to Hacker News? Sure, it is about Paul Graham's ideas on startups. I think, though, we flock here because we want to take control of your financial situation.
What about your social life? What about that bully in high school ... or that asshole boss of your's that keeps taking advantage of you?
In this civilized society, physical abuse is grounds for punishment by the community. Verbal abuse leaves a lot of room to seriously damage someone without leaving a mark. The question I have to ask is, are you going to depend on the civilization's operating system, or are you going to use the skills learned from hacking code to really understand how the social OS works?
It may seem like blaming the "user", but you protect users from themselves because they don't know how to hack. I too empathize with the boy, but I also think he already has a lot of the tools he needs to get himself out.
Some of us just need a little more time than others. What concerns me most in this case is whether so much damage has been done to cripple the boy for life. Hard for us to imagine but still easy enough to happen.
There are other societies who force this issue through a rite of passage. Though that can be just as crippling.
I don't have to imagine the crippling effects of this. I've met a few people whom I can see it happen. As for myself, though I've never been bullied to the extent this kid has, I have had bad life strategies that took me years to disassemble.
At the same time, some of the gifts I've been given are things that'd help even with crippling damage. As cheesy as that sounds. And assuming I remember if after suffering the damage.
Civilization is what lets people behave like ... people ... without going around bashing each other on the head. Yet at the same time, you cannot let the civilized abstractions separate you from your survival instincts. We are not just the identity we form with other people; we are each in these fragile sacks of water called the human body. I may try to increase the general level of civilization to ensure the safety of the people, yet just as importantly, I'll also try to pass on survival skills that I have learned. Including surviving crippling damage.
Users who merely use a computer system don't get that feeling hackers get when they are able to push into that creative realm, to shape and mold a system, often ideas that had not been anywhere. It's that experience of bringing something out of nothing, I think, is what makes coding so much fun. You get to make choices when you code.
But just as you can make these choices when you code, you can do the same for your life. Why else would people flock to Hacker News? Sure, it is about Paul Graham's ideas on startups. I think, though, we flock here because we want to take control of your financial situation.
What about your social life? What about that bully in high school ... or that asshole boss of your's that keeps taking advantage of you?
In this civilized society, physical abuse is grounds for punishment by the community. Verbal abuse leaves a lot of room to seriously damage someone without leaving a mark. The question I have to ask is, are you going to depend on the civilization's operating system, or are you going to use the skills learned from hacking code to really understand how the social OS works?
It may seem like blaming the "user", but you protect users from themselves because they don't know how to hack. I too empathize with the boy, but I also think he already has a lot of the tools he needs to get himself out.