What happened to all the non-programmers?
benkuhn.net
What happened to all the non-programmers?
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Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#2The best thing about my current job is interacting with non-techies. I have been under-socialized after 6 year of engineering schools and 5 years at a pure tech company.
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#3(not on HN)
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#4"In fact, just the fact that I’m interested in doing sports for leisure is associated with class, since it’s not something that would be so easy for, say, manual laborers or shift workers."
This statement says a lot about his bubble. Most of the adults I see playing soccer in the Washington, DC, area are most likely working in construction or service trades. Softball can be pretty blue collar, depending on where you are.
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#5I think this happens in many professions. My wife became a lawyer and now we have a million lawyer friends. This is not so fun at parties.
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#6The internet makes it easier than ever to only hang out with people exactly like you. E.g. making friends at meetups for interest-specific sites like HN. Class and location are also an issue. It may be that 10% of folks with college degrees in San Francisco are programmers, but I bet among among single 20-35 year olds who have enough disposable income to frequent certain sorts of places, it's much higher.
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#7"In fact, just the fact that I’m interested in doing sports for leisure is associated with class, since it’s not something that would be so easy for, say, manual laborers or shift workers." This statement says a lot about his bubble. Most of the adults I see playing soccer in the Washington, DC, area are most likely working in construction or service trades. Softball can be pretty blue collar, depending on where you…
Yeah, there's sort of a weird meme among (for lack of a better word) creative class types that anyone who doesn't use a Macbook for work is literally working 120 hrs in a salt mine to support 8 children as a single parent. It's sort of a noble savage stereotype, but in reality "working class" (even just that name is indicative of this idea) people are still people too -- they do things on their time off, some of them are hard-working, some of them are lazy, some of them do a good job at work, some of them suck, some of them are good parents, some of them aren't.
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#8I feel this problem is especially significant in San Francisco. Having lived in several other cities, I can say that, at least for me, this was never a major issue before living in SF. Meeting other programmers and people in tech out in the real world used to be a pleasant surprise. Now it's just a given.
Coffee shops, climbing gyms, museum nights, hiking meet ups, hanging out in the park, etc etc... I, like apparently every other person in tech, enjoy these things. I do miss the diversity of thoughts and lifestyles to be found in other cities. Not that SF doesn't have such diversity, it's just that I never before had to make an effort to find it outside my normal activities.
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#9The internet makes it easier than ever to only hang out with people exactly like you. E.g. making friends at meetups for interest-specific sites like HN. Class and location are also an issue. It may be that 10% of folks with college degrees in San Francisco are programmers, but I bet among among single 20-35 year olds who have enough disposable income to frequent certain sorts of places, it's much higher.
> I bet among among single 20-35 year olds who have enough disposable income to frequent certain sorts of places, it's much higher.
I think people tend to just gravitate toward doing the best things they can, as limited by time, cost, taste, and social access. It's the same reason sleep away camps on the east coast were/are disproportionately jewish -- you're drawing from the subset of parents with enough money to send their kids, but who aren't allowed to play golf or whatever, and share the same set of post-holocaust gemeinschaft ideals.
Re: What happened to all the non-programmers?
#10[deleted]