It sounds like California might be wasted on you. You might like Edinburgh (in Scotland.) Seriously, though, you'll find what you look for wherever you go. ;-)
Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
41–50 of 60 posts
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#42>>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.
Actively being a "hater" is very different from politely listing groups or ideologies that you are trying to avoid.
And describing something you try to avoid as "retarded" is not exactly "polite".
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#43There's definitely the stereotypical "hacker"/techie person you mention in San Francisco and Silicon Valley but there's also every other type of person you can imagine. Generally we have a "live and let live" mentality so people are free to be who they want, even if it's offensive to you.
Regarding some specific comments:
Hipsterish - Yeah, we are hipsterish because we think of ourselves as trendy. We also are more laid back than New York so t-shirts, jeans, sweatpants, sandals, are all a-ok with us.
Yoga - What's wrong with liking yoga? Stretching and meditation have been shown to help clear the mind and improve your mental wellness.
Organic Food - We are the pioneers of the organic food movement and have some of the best food in the world. It's just silly to hate organic food on the basis that it's pesticide free. People are passionate about their causes here so they take it to extremes.
Feminists - Okay, not touching this one with a ten-foot pole.
Spirit Animals - I'm not sure where this stereotype came from but I have to admit I have had multiple conversations at different parties about what everyone's spirit animal is.
Roam around the Bay Area, it's a big place, and you'll find people you are interested in hanging out with. You'll find more diversity in Oakland if that's what you're looking for (although there's probably more feminists and activists as well). Stay away from Berkeley because Yoga + Organic Food.
Enjoy your stay.
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#44> I don’t care about yoga, organic food, vegans, feminists or spirit animals.
You forgot standing desks :)
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#45Asking here is a mistake. Living in the culture of the Bay normalizes you to the idiosyncrasies that stand out to outsiders.
Like any loose collective, the techies in the bay will allow themselves to be labeled as a subculture when their ego is getting stroked. But if pressed with a criticism you'll find that they're just a diverse group of people that may share a profession and hobby or two but can't possibly be a considered a subculture with general defining traits. And neither way to see them is wrong.
The good news is that the prominent attitudes are not shared by everyone, or even most people. The bad news is that the people that exhibit them are annoyingly prominent. And everyone worth knowing has a coping strategy to blend in.
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Finding out how food and exercise affect your body and adjusting your behavior accordingly is very different from what "lifehack" is in popular media. Even if we ignore the bad ideas and generally superfluous stuff branded as "lifehacks," the bare-bones of lifehacking is often steeped in the smug self-righteousness of the Bay that is a throughline in OP's post.
A right click and click on define divulges lifehacking as "a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one's time and daily activities in a more efficient way". Given gluten is a drain on my brain, and riding at a certain time increases my clarity levels for creating, I'm going to strongly disagree with you here. I also have NFC tags on my desk and near the front door to speed the time it takes to configure my…
Cool sounding NFC setup - have you written anywhere about that? Or do you mind describing what the NFC points trigger on your phone here?
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#47There's definitely the stereotypical "hacker"/techie person you mention in San Francisco and Silicon Valley but there's also every other type of person you can imagine. Generally we have a "live and let live" mentality so people are free to be who they want, even if it's offensive to you. Regarding some specific comments: Hipsterish - Yeah, we are hipsterish because we think of ourselves as trendy. We also are more l…
Yoga - What's wrong with liking yoga?
Nothing is wrong with yoga the activity. Just like nothing is wrong with owning a gun, flying the flag, or living in Georgia. But tell me with a strait face that "gun toting, flag waving, Georgia boy" doesn't conjure the image of a person that is more than the sum of those parts.
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#48Hey there,
I would be happy to show you around, introduce you to some good people, etc. if you like. I have a car and can take you to some places outside the immediate SF area (plus it gives me an excuse to drive somewhere). Always happy to show people around :) My contact info is on my profile.
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
A right click and click on define divulges lifehacking as "a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one's time and daily activities in a more efficient way". Given gluten is a drain on my brain, and riding at a certain time increases my clarity levels for creating, I'm going to strongly disagree with you here. I also have NFC tags on my desk and near the front door to speed the time it takes to configure my…
Cool sounding NFC setup - have you written anywhere about that? Or do you mind describing what the NFC points trigger on your phone here?
:) I use NFC Tools from the Google Play store + Whiztags with write capabilities, not that's necessary for executing predefined phone actions.
The update to the Nexus 5 now allows you to use the tags for unlocking the phone based on unique ID on an NFC tag as well.
Re: Ask HN: I’m visiting Bay Area and I dislike the “hacker” culture. Please help
#50Hey there, I would be happy to show you around, introduce you to some good people, etc. if you like. I have a car and can take you to some places outside the immediate SF area (plus it gives me an excuse to drive somewhere). Always happy to show people around :) My contact info is on my profile.
Haha, I'll probably take you up on that offer..