Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What Happened to Lee

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 299 posts

Re: What Happened to Lee

#121

Post by synaesthesisx »

eastdakota wrote: post #31
jamestimmins wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry for the loss you and his other friends/loved ones have experienced. Do you feel like the article was accurate and fair to the people involved?

Yes. Very. It was important to me and Michelle that it be a tribute to Lee’s genius and contribution to Cloudflare. We spent a long time looking for the right reporter and publication. Wired seemed appropriate given Lee’s love of technology. And Sandra was a total class act. We opened up fully to her, spending nearly a year letting her get to know us. Lee’s family was incredibly giving of their time. It takes a reall…

This was one of the most incredibly tragic and moving pieces I've read recently, and serves as a reminder of the fragility of consciousness and being. Thank you for sharing his story.

Re: What Happened to Lee

#122

Post by 01100011 »

rubicon33 wrote: post #107

Terrifying. As a software engineer, shit like this scares me. I've felt like I'm on a steady, slow, decline for the last ~4 years. Is it just burnout? Do I need a new hobby? I used to love programming... Spent 12 hours a day jamming on it. Now, I struggle to keep my mind on a line of code for more than 5 minutes. At what point is it just burnout, or at what point is it something more? That's what's terrifying to me.…

How old are you? I'm about to hit 45 and have been on that path for about 2 years now. It started with sleep apnea but I've had that under control for 16 months now. I feel like I'm becoming too slow to be a proficient coder, and I lack the people skills to move to management. I'd pick a lower-stress career, but I've got alimony and need the income.

I've tried getting fit. I've tried improving my sleep. Vitamins, herbs, etc. The only things that work are tobacco(not nicotine, it just makes me sick) and armodafinil in small doses.

Re: What Happened to Lee

#124

Post by phaedrus441 »

When I was a medical student on my psychiatry rotation we had a patient who was a history professor at a local college. He was actually admitted to the hospital after reporting himself for molesting his neighbor’s children, but this was investigated and turned out to be impossible. Nonetheless, he was convinced he had done it, and was very impulsive and saddened by it (he would tearfully confess over and over). In the end, we imaged his brain and diagnosed him with frontotemporal dementia. The most strangest aspect was that you could look on rateaprofessor.com and see how he gradually changed over the semesters. I remember a comment saying that he came in on day one, told the class they would all get A’s, and left without coming back for weeks.

Re: What Happened to Lee

#125

Post by battery_cowboy »

rubicon33 wrote: post #107

Terrifying. As a software engineer, shit like this scares me. I've felt like I'm on a steady, slow, decline for the last ~4 years. Is it just burnout? Do I need a new hobby? I used to love programming... Spent 12 hours a day jamming on it. Now, I struggle to keep my mind on a line of code for more than 5 minutes. At what point is it just burnout, or at what point is it something more? That's what's terrifying to me.…

I'm here with you, I still love the idea of software, but I can't get myself to sit there and code even the most fun projects. I had a great idea for a project to start a business, I know people would need it, but I just can't get myself to do it. It's frustrating and makes me really depressed that I'm like this.

Re: What Happened to Lee

#126

Post by Igelau »

cyber_zhuangzi wrote: post #103
chromanoid wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, unless one sees the suffering of others as suffering of NPCs or punishment for a former life, I cannot understand how one can believe in a benevolent omnipotent god. The cruelty that some have to endure is simply not explainable with a such a god. It cannot be benevolent AND omnipotent by definition. It becomes far far far more likely that there is simply no such a god. It's not like this dilemma is new so t…

It's a deep problem with a long history of attempts at answering it, some more satisfying than others. One answer that appeals to many faithful is the idea that all this suffering will be "redeemed", or made to be worth it at the end. Augustine, for example, would take the "NPC" prong of your dilemma by saying that our earthly existence "in time" is not a full experience of reality at all. Indeed, you can find this v…

> earthly suffering is nothing compared to the joy of being in Heaven

Now the demiurge is a utility monster.

> this is not a foolproof argument

Argument? It's an admission.

Re: What Happened to Lee

#127

Post by daenz »

libria wrote: post #100
reuben_scratton wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. His family are financially secure, thanks to his Cloudflare millions. I could die much more easily knowing my family were safe after I'd gone.

That's the answer to "Would you spend your last 10 years securing a guaranteed multi-million dollar payout?" not "Would you work your tail off for a gamble?" Startup != assured success.

I should have been more specific with my hypothetical. I only meant having knowledge of the disease, not of any kind of startup mega-success.

Re: What Happened to Lee

#128

Post by GCSAQCMIYI »

billti wrote: post #25

> The neurologists delivered their verdict: He appeared to have a textbook case of frontotemporal dementia—known by the shorthand FTD Oh man, was that a kick in the guts when I got to that bit. My Dad was diagnosed with that in the past year, (after obviously struggling for a while), and declined rapidly. He had a different variant, and indeed the one thing that DIDN'T change was his personality. In fact, that's what…

>For one thing, being in the U.S. healthcare system, if I did have the markers, would that then count as a "pre-existing condition" I'd have to disclose?

I'm sure the people who pay premiums for health insurance would hope so. If you already know you have a condition that's going to cost a lot of money to treat, you're not looking for insurance. If you can't pay for it yourself, you're looking for charity.

Re: What Happened to Lee

#129

Post by bpicolo »

rubicon33 wrote: post #107

Terrifying. As a software engineer, shit like this scares me. I've felt like I'm on a steady, slow, decline for the last ~4 years. Is it just burnout? Do I need a new hobby? I used to love programming... Spent 12 hours a day jamming on it. Now, I struggle to keep my mind on a line of code for more than 5 minutes. At what point is it just burnout, or at what point is it something more? That's what's terrifying to me.…

I think this is pretty natural. When it's fresh and you're learning a lot, programming is easy to keep fixated on. It's very instant-gratification early on. As you progress, the low hanging fruit dries up and goals have longer gratification cycles

Re: What Happened to Lee

#130

Post by weakfish »

rurban wrote: post #88

What they are describing, at least in the first 70% of the story, is typical for a creative developer becoming an admin or maintainer, simply becoming an obnoxious asshole. It's the job, not some illness, mostly.

Bad taste, friend.
Post reply on HN