Unexplained Mysteries....must read http://goo.gl/1VBTyy
People Call Me Aaron
81–90 of 114 posts
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, totally normal, I think. I think that's just basic social mammal stuff - you calibrate your actions to your social surroundings. I mean even our dog has totally separate personalities when he's around us at home versus how he acts around other dogs. And it's not even the same personality for each of the other dogs - some dogs have calming effects on him, some make him hyperactive.
In the way you responded and described your experience, I think the term I should've included, at least from an academic basis, is that of "code switching" because it's a pretty interesting concept to me. The big key was the 'work' versus 'home' concept of self. It's totally reasonable to want to compartmentalize, I think it's pretty ingrained in our species, so talking about it as a fact of life is pretty useful.
Ah, ok, so there is a term for it!
It's also something that's been much remarked-upon by various minority groups. I've heard a lot of African-American comedians, friends, and commentators mention how they have feel the need "act white" when they're not around other black people. You hear the exact same thing from LGBT folks as well - they often choose to "act straight" by default in a lot of environments.
I've seen this a lot firsthand myself. It's also a good reminder that having the option to code switch is a real privilege. For some people it's not a coping skill, it's a literal survival tactic.
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#83SF tech party culture sounds awful. It sounds no less superficial and dehumanizing than the worst of celebrity adulation in Hollywood.
The comparison is apropos. I've lived in Hollywood most of my life and have to spend time in SF for work. The entertainment people get a bad rap for being superficial douchebags and chronic bullshitters, but it doesn't even compare to the SF scene. At least in Hollywood, if someone thinks they're hot shit, you can go on imdb and see if they're really as self-important as they think they are. In SF everyone is the bes…
Is there really that much celebrity status thumping for programmers in SF? Maybe in particular circles, but I want to believe that SF has more diversity in tech than that.
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I cant help but think it quite easy to stay anonymous as a programmer. That its the default. I never really understood what people mean by the "tech scene". Its like you guys meet up or something. I have rarely meet other programmers apart from the few ones at work, and usually we don't socialise outside of work. I think this is the norm. I haven't noticed any kind of scene. The average programmer is quite anonymous.…
Do you live in the Bay Area or Silicon Valley? I think it is a lot different there. Also, some people participate in the "scene" while others don't. I used to go to more meet-ups and hacks-a-thons, but not so much anymore. I am not sure which is the norm.
I lived in SF for 6 years before moving to LA, and before then was born and raised in Silicon Valley. I have never been to these events, nor have any close friends. Of course, most of my close friends were also born in Silicon Valley - maybe it's a transplant thing?
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
WHOA. I just wrote almost the same comment before seeing yours: > My mother is known for cycling through names before hitting the right one. > > I was frequently addressed as "Hershey-Chris-Patrick" while living at home.
My parents will start with my brother's name first before getting to me, but I've also heard them make the same, inverse mistake with my brother. I have to imagine this is only a same-sex issue right? No one mixes up their daughter and son's names?
sheepish I do, but not often, and usually only when I'm trying to get them each to do things like clean up a room or fold laundry, or do X/Y/Z before dinner. Even as I say it I notice it, and wonder where the heck that came from.
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
(I am European and moved to Australia 4 years ago) - while I agree with you that the story did not have the same cultural resonance outside of the US, I would say that most tech people would know who Aaron Swartz was (although among the generally public hardly anyone would have a clue).
Intuitively I'd agree, but I was surprised at how many people/friends/colleagues didn't know what I was talking about when The Internet's Own Boy was released. If they weren't readers of Hacker News they almost certainly didn't pick up on the story. Again - anecdotal.
HN = what HN calls tech scene. Then you realize that most programmers don't read HN. They have never heard of Rust (and possibly Aaron). As my friend said, reading HN is the least broad professional development you can do, with minimum amount of effort. But most simply don't.
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#87Lionel Messi wins 5th time Ballon d’Or trophy
http://goo.gl/IM6ikr
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#88Obviously not of the same gravity, but a good part of my childhood was spent being called by my big brother's name. Family, friends, teachers, you name it. It's a hard one, because I think my brother is an amazing guy, and evidently so do other people, but it's ultimately belittling. A math teacher, who had my brother for a single year, called me by his name for the whole three years I knew/had her. By that point, it…
> just start thinking your identity is just a proxy for the other person's,
I think that is why a lot of siblings end up doing opposite things -- ones likes math, the other start painting, one goes into the Army, the other one is anti-military. One likes to wear bright colors, the other likes all black. One goes to school on the East coast, the other goes to the West.
Obviously people are different and will do and like different things -- but from my circle of acquintances it goes a bit beyond that when it comes to siblings. I think at some level, that is a way for individuals to define themselves, and that is in relation to their environment -- "I am who I am because I am not ...".
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
My parents and several schoolteachers often called me by my older brother's name, or called my sisters by one anothers' names. It's not as though my parents couldn't tell their own children apart, it's just that sometimes saying a name is an autopilot thing. I recently took a friend to the grocery store, and called her son by my son's name when I wanted him to move out of the way of someone else's cart.
yup. I have four kids, two sisters and a partner. Sometimes I need to work through ALL the names to get to the right one.. pap...hil...sam...ji...joan..KIM could you please....
Haha, we have the same in our house sometimes! I think I've even heard the dog's name thrown in there.
Eventually you narrow it down to the right kid, right name :)
Re: People Call Me Aaron
#90How is it possible for anyone who knows who Aaron is to not know that he's dead? How could they possibly mistake his brother for him to the extent of thoughtlessly calling him the wrong name?
It is very common (especially as you get older) to mix up names for people that are in the same mental category while you are speaking. It isn't necessarily thoughtlessness. Sometimes our brains just don't work quite right.
Indeed. "Wives and long-term girlfriends" is a large category for me. It's easy to keep major events straight. But often, I'll be talking about some film that I've seen, and can't remember which of them I saw it with. Or who I did what with on which trip to Amsterdam. It doesn't help that some of their names are similar.