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Keep your identity small (2009)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#31

Post by devishard »

AlwaysBCoding wrote: post #15
dylz wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's discuss text editors. Anyone?

lol @ Vim users that have to write configuration files, memorize complicated keyboard shortcuts, and install 20 plugins just to be able to copy and paste text between files. It's 2016, try using a real editor like Atom. (Am I doing it right?)

I use vim w/o plugins and with the stock configuration.

I frequently have two files open side-by-side.

If I want to copy the current line in the left file to the right file, the keystrokes are:

    yylp
It's really not that hard to copy between files in Vim. :P

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#33

Post by jasode »

nostrademons wrote: post #26
jshevek wrote: post #13

" Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums?" I do not believe this author had much experience discussing JS on forums.

I thought of commenting on that as one thing in this article that didn't really stand the test of time. As a sibling comment points out, the JS world was very different in 2009, and we didn't have the same kind of flamewars that we do now. I think that's actually a point in favor of the article. In 2009, virtually nobody considered themselves a "Javascript programmer". Rather, Javascript was a skill that you used to…

>In 2009, virtually nobody considered themselves a "Javascript programmer".

I'm guessing the "Javascript is my identity" era began with Nodejs. Before 2009, Javascript was something that was "tolerated" because it just came with all the browsers. Back then, having any point of pride in being a "Javascript programmer" would be a little weird as if a homeowner proclaimed he was a "Panasonic keypad microwave programmer instead of a Samsung microwave programmer". Nobody cares what buttons you press to pop your popcorn. Likewise, the "Javascript" stuff was just something you had to do for interactive webpages.

However, for someone to have the audacity of duplicating the Javascript environment on the server side... that means subsequent programmers get to make an invested choice, which means... flame wars.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#34

Post by pystack »

I've realized there are things I can change and there are things I cannot change. I try not to feel too strongly on the things I cannot change, because it distracts me from the things I can change.

For politics, I try not to feel too strongly about Trump and the electoral process. I would still vote, but I know it would have a minimal impact, no matter how strongly I feel.

Instead, I focus my energy on my business, which I can change.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#35

Post by chejazi »

Labels might make you "dumber", but there's a huge tradeoff: you can arrive at a conclusion a lot faster. Of course in a discussion you wouldn't just jump to the conclusion, which is why labels fail in the situations Graham described.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#36

Post by avitex »

hornbaker wrote: post #14
jshevek wrote: post #13

" Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums?" I do not believe this author had much experience discussing JS on forums.

To be fair, the JS world has changed considerably since 2009.

Agreed, though the explosion of desktop applications (that are bundled with a browser), although understandable, is annoying.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#37

Post by birdDadCawww »

Whats funny is this theory pushes us to be more like computers. Less passion and more logic. Not to mention people on the Internet say and talk about options in forums reinforcing maybe a small part of ones identity. while in the real world you might get punched in the face. I still favor this theory but I would say spend less time on Internet interactions, so you don't have your personal held beliefs blossom into something more toxic for rational communication and real human connection. Being at the computer is a suit of idealogical armor and you can disengage from conversations like I am about to do.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#38

Post by tehchromic »

"I think what religion and politics have in common is that they become part of people's identity"

You might also say that people have identity and religion and politics use those to advantage. But is it wrong to have identity? I'd argue it as a basic human requirement.

Religion can be considered a technology of group identity which was refined over millennium to be most effective at generating a unified form. Like all technology it was disrupted by something better and more efficient at transmitting shared consciousness.

That definition also fits the web which is the most powerful method of transmission yet invented, and is the fruit of the science religion.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#39

Post by tehchromic »

"I think what religion and politics have in common is that they become part of people's identity"

You might also say that people have identity and religion and politics use those to advantage. But is it wrong to have identity? I'd argue it as a basic human requirement.

Religion can be considered a technology of group identity which was refined over millennium to be most effective at generating a unified form. Like all technology it was disrupted by something better and more efficient at transmitting shared consciousness. That's the web.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#40

Post by gohrt »

jasode wrote: post #33
nostrademons wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought of commenting on that as one thing in this article that didn't really stand the test of time. As a sibling comment points out, the JS world was very different in 2009, and we didn't have the same kind of flamewars that we do now. I think that's actually a point in favor of the article. In 2009, virtually nobody considered themselves a "Javascript programmer". Rather, Javascript was a skill that you used to…

>In 2009, virtually nobody considered themselves a "Javascript programmer". I'm guessing the "Javascript is my identity" era began with Nodejs. Before 2009, Javascript was something that was "tolerated" because it just came with all the browsers. Back then, having any point of pride in being a "Javascript programmer" would be a little weird as if a homeowner proclaimed he was a "Panasonic keypad microwave programmer…

2007

http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/06/rhino-on-rails.html

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