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Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

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Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

#11
post #8

>>My intention isn’t to be a hater. People are different, cultures are different, that’s fine :-) >> I dislike people who call themselves hackers, rockstars, ninjas, nomads etc. I don’t care about yoga, organic food, vegans, feminists or spirit animals. I dislike overuse of the word “community” and I think the whole “lifehacking” thing is retarded.

Well I don't like the North Korean regime. That doesn't mean I hate North Koreans.

Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

#12
Remember 8 million people live the Bay Area so the scene is diverse. I'd say more than 5 million of those don't care about technology or startups at all. What you read online is the few who shout the loudest and promote themselves or their idea.

Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

#16
The media portrayal of the Bay Area and of California itself is wildly misguided and wrong. Like all stereotypes, the image of the vegan "rockstar" self-important hacker has a basis in reality, but it's a cartoonish exaggeration.

I’m the type of person who likes eating meat, drinking beer, talking about politics, money, science, entrepreneurship, programming etc.

You'll find plenty of company.

Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

#17
post #7

Spending less than $2,500/month may require some lifehacking IMO

I guess I deserved that :P

On a side note, I find the term life-hacking, and it's strange cousin travel-hacking pretty annoying as well.

A friend of mine tried to 'travel-hack' SXSW by renting a U-Haul and attempting to stay there instead of renting a hotel...

He forgot that it: (A) might be pretty chilly and (B) would remain unlocked, unless he wanted someone to lock him in and unlock him in the morning.

Needless to say he ended up crashing on the floor of my house, which really is a much better and long-standing 'travel-hack' to begin with.

Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

#18
Don't worry; people in the Bay Area are annoyed by people who call themselves rockstars and ninjas too. As for what you're reading online, of course some people are like that, but in my experience they are for the most part not the interesting ones anyway. The best people I know don't care for fashions.

How are meat, beer, and broad discussions antithetical to your perception of how people in the Bay Area live?

Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

#19
I know exactly where you are coming from: a few years ago I decided I was going to move to either SF or NYC from socal. I interviewed at a bunch of places and spent time socializing in both cities, e.g. going to parties, meeting friends of friends, etc. It was an involved decision that I made carefully.

In the end, NYC was a no-brainer for me. I consistently found the bay area has developed an homogenous culture that even pervaded my non-tech friends' lives. People always asked the dreaded "so, what do you do?" way earlier than they did in NYC. And unlike in NYC, I often felt like I was being judged for my answer. I hated this because I like a strong work-life seperation. In NYC I found there's less of a social "hierarchy" based on profession. At a typical party you can meet an artist, an actor, a doctor, a hedge fund investor, and a marketing executive, and all may kick ass at their jobs. I got exposed to an insane amount of culture in NYC that I didn't see in SF.

Keep in mind that this is written from the perspective of a professional - there are probably large parts of the two cities that culturally overlap. Also, I'm not trying to say SF is a bad city, but it isn't for everyone.

Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help

#20
post #19

I know exactly where you are coming from: a few years ago I decided I was going to move to either SF or NYC from socal. I interviewed at a bunch of places and spent time socializing in both cities, e.g. going to parties, meeting friends of friends, etc. It was an involved decision that I made carefully. In the end, NYC was a no-brainer for me. I consistently found the bay area has developed an homogenous culture that…

Thank you for the reply! I also prefer NY but as you said, the startup culture is weak compared to SF. We'll see.
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