61–70 of 339 posts
I've stumbled upon Terry's work a long time ago...and suffice to say he's been a major inspiration. It's a shame the majority of netizens (Yes, HN and Reddit included) can't look beyond his eccentricity and mental health issues (then again, it takes some digging and google-fu to find out the full story / context behind the man...his posts don't exactly come with a disclaimer). Going down the rabbit hole of Googling,…
I've stumbled upon Terry's work a long time ago...and suffice to say he's been a major inspiration. It's a shame the majority of netizens (Yes, HN and Reddit included) can't look beyond his eccentricity and mental health issues (then again, it takes some digging and google-fu to find out the full story / context behind the man...his posts don't exactly come with a disclaimer). Going down the rabbit hole of Googling,…
While regrettable, his hellban is entirely necessary. Almost every comment he makes refers to "f------- n------" (censorship mine). To quote one from his page of most recent comments: "I spend my days clubbing r----d-n------. CLUB! CLUB! DIE N-----! CLUB! R----D! N------! DIE!! CLUB! N-----!" That's not really something we can have on HN. (edit: right, asterisks are formatting here)
Arguably, we do have it on HN, by design. The effect of his ban, and his reputation as a programmer have turned him into a weird sort of mascot. It's possible that simply banning him outright would have driven him off the site by now. It certainly wouldn't have been more effort than hellbanning his accounts. But the system as it is encourages him to stay.
I'm a huge fan of Terry's work, because he works hard, has a clear vision for what he wants to do, and makes it happen. That's more than can be said of many self-professed hackers who never see a project to completion or are motivated solely by peer recognition. You may disagree with the logical coherency of his goals - I for one think the "temple for God" thing is pure kookery - but he is a master craftsman, and in…
Every time his story comes up, there are people who respond with answers along the lines of "what can we do for him? can we find him assisted employment? can we raise money for him?" etc. While these comments are surely well intentioned, they end up being mostly condescending and out of place, as if talking about a completely helpless being. He is openly racist. He can't find a job on his own, unless it's among other…
What exactly is the "help" he so desperately needs?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
the dude is straight up racist and just because he's eccentric and mentally ill doesn't mean it should be tolerated
Is he actually racist, or are his moments of unclarity racist?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every time his story comes up, there are people who respond with answers along the lines of "what can we do for him? can we find him assisted employment? can we raise money for him?" etc. While these comments are surely well intentioned, they end up being mostly condescending and out of place, as if talking about a completely helpless being. He is openly racist. He can't find a job on his own, unless it's among other…
He's alive and enjoys what he does on a day-to-day basis. Who are you to decide what life he should live? What exactly is the "help" he so desperately needs?
I've stumbled upon Terry's work a long time ago...and suffice to say he's been a major inspiration. It's a shame the majority of netizens (Yes, HN and Reddit included) can't look beyond his eccentricity and mental health issues (then again, it takes some digging and google-fu to find out the full story / context behind the man...his posts don't exactly come with a disclaimer). Going down the rabbit hole of Googling,…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I find this guy's moments of clarity amazing. Oh, that's because: > I'm not very familiar with mental illnesses [...] :) Schizophrenics are frequently lucid. Well, a modified sort of lucid... It's as if they are rational folks for whom first principles or axioms have been shaken up, and indeed are malleable all the time. It doesn't sound like Terry would ever think that his dinner plate would sprout legs and walk a…
I wouldn't classify his belief in God as a "crazy idea" in the purest sense of those words. Scientifically, a God powerful enough to create this universe could easily and rationally be powerful enough to make certain demands of said creation, one of which might rationally be that the created beings need faith in God to achieve their designed capability. There is a wonderful uniformity to the universe that allows comp…
...This topic has a history of being polarizing. And it's not the topic in this thread.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He's alive and enjoys what he does on a day-to-day basis. Who are you to decide what life he should live? What exactly is the "help" he so desperately needs?
If you will actually read my comment, I said "ask him whether he wants help."
He's done alright with his life by his own measure and doesn't need the condescension of "hello you poor soul, do you need help?" (which, I'm sure, he's already heard a million times by now)
i have had a number of experiences very similar to what terry went through. connecting computing to religion, seeing 'larger patterns' that weren't there, believing in conspiracies directed at me... it was rough. i was lucky enough to have a few people really step up and support me when i was at the edge. it's weird reading this and feeling like i know exactly what he means when he says this stuff that sounds crazy.…
He got to work again and has a completely normal life, but in a way I can still feel something changed inside of him...
It'd be nice if I could talk about this more with you. I will surely read your comments.