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How my genius roommate changed my perspective

farhadg.com

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Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#3
post #2

tl;dr a creative roommate refits a bed frame as a multi purpose table and workbench and opens the eyes and the heart of the author to "hack the physical world" to fit his needs.

Some other people started by seeing that they could modify pre-existing compiled code to better fit their needs.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#4
s/genius/resourceful and creative/g

That's not a slight. But being resourceful (and creative, of course) is what was displayed. There was no evidence of genius. Being resourceful and creative means using what you have on hand to achieve a goal.

For example, I wanted to make a gift for a friend who loves dinosaurs. I used old bicycle parts and various bits of metal I had left over from other projects and made her a 3 foot tall T-Rex. She loved it! Money spent = $0. Am I a genius? Probably not. Was I resourceful and creative? Definitely.

Perhaps for people who don't have a "hack the world!" mindset, it does appear as genius I suppose.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#5

s/genius/resourceful and creative/g That's not a slight. But being resourceful (and creative, of course) is what was displayed. There was no evidence of genius. Being resourceful and creative means using what you have on hand to achieve a goal. For example, I wanted to make a gift for a friend who loves dinosaurs. I used old bicycle parts and various bits of metal I had left over from other projects and made her a 3…

I think the author was adding a little sensational flair to the title, not trying to make a definitive attestation of their roommate's genius

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#6
Nice article. Unfortunately there is a limitation to this way of thinking in my daily business - the WAF ;-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_acceptance_factor

Luckily the articles' principle doesn't only apply to building furniture.

Edit - Clarification:

This comment describes only my personal situation and should in no way harm anyone. It is a satiric way of stating out that if you are not alone in your apartment you have to

  1. Respect others feelings when rearranging your stuff or putting new things in
  2. Regard the importance to build something aesthetical / beautiful rather than only useful
I would love to see the author having emphasized these two aspects.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#7
post #5

s/genius/resourceful and creative/g That's not a slight. But being resourceful (and creative, of course) is what was displayed. There was no evidence of genius. Being resourceful and creative means using what you have on hand to achieve a goal. For example, I wanted to make a gift for a friend who loves dinosaurs. I used old bicycle parts and various bits of metal I had left over from other projects and made her a 3…

I think the author was adding a little sensational flair to the title, not trying to make a definitive attestation of their roommate's genius

[deleted]

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#8

s/genius/resourceful and creative/g That's not a slight. But being resourceful (and creative, of course) is what was displayed. There was no evidence of genius. Being resourceful and creative means using what you have on hand to achieve a goal. For example, I wanted to make a gift for a friend who loves dinosaurs. I used old bicycle parts and various bits of metal I had left over from other projects and made her a 3…

I think 'genius' is a relative term.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#9

s/genius/resourceful and creative/g That's not a slight. But being resourceful (and creative, of course) is what was displayed. There was no evidence of genius. Being resourceful and creative means using what you have on hand to achieve a goal. For example, I wanted to make a gift for a friend who loves dinosaurs. I used old bicycle parts and various bits of metal I had left over from other projects and made her a 3…

> Perhaps for people who don't have a "hack the world!" mindset, it does appear as genius I suppose.

That's just a turn of style.

With that being said perhaps there's something in common between the stereotypes of hackers and genius, and that's not flattering I suppose.

Re: How my genius roommate changed my perspective

#10

s/genius/resourceful and creative/g That's not a slight. But being resourceful (and creative, of course) is what was displayed. There was no evidence of genius. Being resourceful and creative means using what you have on hand to achieve a goal. For example, I wanted to make a gift for a friend who loves dinosaurs. I used old bicycle parts and various bits of metal I had left over from other projects and made her a 3…

It’s called divergent thinking. Creativity is a form of intelligence. RSA Animate on education and changing the paradigm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
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