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God's Lonely Programmer

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Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#71

Post by mietek »

yzzxy wrote: post #32
GuiA wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you under the impression that he is in need of help? It seems to me that he has no problem finding outlets to talk about his interests, and that he doesn't seem to desire assisted employment.

I don't think there's sure evidence either way, but I did read this line: > Unable to work, he collects Social Security disability and spends most of his time coding, web surfing, or using the output... I have no idea if Terry would like to work or not, but I don't see harm in someone making it possible for him by extending an offer. In addition, I think it's hard to see the huge number of TempleOS posts and comments…

Not everybody needs a job in order to live a fulfilling life. LoseThos is working—he is doing God's work, as he would gladly tell you.

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#72

Post by peterwwillis »

alexbecker wrote: post #52
_exec wrote: post #41

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)

If you deal with the mentally ill you begin to see the differences between intentionally abusive behavior and behavior that's just highly erratic or unusual. Sometimes the mentally ill are dicks. But also, sometimes they just say or do things that are culturally insensitive without intending to hurt anyone's feelings, or understanding how they could do so.

While I think the above comment is offensive, it also appears to not be directed at any one person, and seems to be a facet of his mental illness. I therefore reason that this person is not trying to be abusive or racist, but is in fact suffering from a disease, and this is a symptom of it. So I don't think he should be held to the same standard everyone else is.

For example, we have flagkilling for comments in addition to downvotes that can be used to remove offensive remarks. Why wouldn't we merely let the crowd downvote his negative comments, and upvote the good ones? Positive reinforcement would actually be a useful to instruct him how to behave in a social environment such as this.

Or we could just hellban all the mentally challenged users.

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#73

Post by seccess »

Reading this, I'm reminded of Kary Mullis, inventor of PCR (polymerase chain reaction). PCR is widely considered to be the most important discovery of modern biology, ushering a new era of scientific research after he invented it in the 1980s. He won a nobel prize for it.

Kary was a bit off though (in this case due to intense drug usage, I think). Afterwards, he went on to deny that HIV is the cause of AIDS, tried to discredit global warming, and began believing in astrology and magic.

In the end, its possible that a little bit of insanity is a good thing; that it can help someone make a profound discovery that no one else could see. Too much is obviously detrimental, however.

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#74

Post by sillysaurus3 »

kstenerud wrote: post #69
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you will actually read my comment, I said "ask him whether he wants help."

Or, you know, just leave him the fuck alone. 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)

No, I don't think we should leave the mentally ill alone. That's not how society works, nor how it should work.

I think we should respect their wishes, when appropriate, but leaving them alone isn't a good decision.

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#75

Post by seivan »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #58
GuiA wrote: post #40

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…

He is not racist. As you said it His racism probably isn't his fault. It's probably a factor of his condition.

Does not make him a racist.

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#76

Post by pfortuny »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #58
GuiA wrote: post #40

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…

I think you may be mixing two problems, one ideological (he is a racist), which has little to do with medicine and the other behavioural (he is "aggressive", or whatever). The latter may be a medical condition, the former I am inclined to see as a (wrong, if you let me) set of values.

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#77

Post by OldSchool »

Gracana wrote: post #3

> As an undergrad he’d been hired at Ticketmaster to program operating systems. Ticketmaster, huh! Does anyone know anything about what they were working on?

Ticketmaster in Phoenix, AZ - early times - here's a little anecdote about the bizarre culture I saw there circa 1989-90. I applied there, having an EE degree already and I was called in for an interview. The initial interview consisted of what was more or less a battery of IQ tests. There must've been 30 of us initially. Soon only a couple of us were left after everybody else was dismissed. Apparently having passed this somewhat offensive process, they took more of my time and scheduled me for a second interview another day. I don't recall any names or faces, but there they offered me a job and mentioned some "genius" guy I'd be mentored by. Before I had the honor of meeting this guy we started talking money. The "pay?" $8/hour... Even 25 years ago that was less than half what a freshly graduated engineer could easily get anywhere else in a corporate job. That alone was enough for me to politely decline the offer, but the management attitude and culture was also repulsive. I wouldn't be surprised if they were exploiting this guy at the time and he may very well have been their "genius."

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#78

Post by OldSchool »

TTPrograms wrote: post #6
Gracana wrote: post #3

> As an undergrad he’d been hired at Ticketmaster to program operating systems. Ticketmaster, huh! Does anyone know anything about what they were working on?

Maybe he meant operating systems for automated ticket kiosks.

That's correct as I recall.

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#79

Post by wyager »

dunstad wrote: post #13

I find this guy's moments of clarity amazing. I'm not very familiar with mental illnesses in any form, but it surprises me how clearly he understands how the rest of the world views him. It makes me think about what the world might be like if we reverse the situation, and the article were about the only man who can't hear the voice of God.

>the only man who can't hear the voice of God.

You may find this very interesting. I know I did. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicameralism_(psychology)

Re: God's Lonely Programmer

#80

Post by kstenerud »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #74
kstenerud wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, you know, just leave him the fuck alone. 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)

No, I don't think we should leave the mentally ill alone. That's not how society works, nor how it should work. I think we should respect their wishes, when appropriate, but leaving them alone isn't a good decision.

I'm barely able to contain my rage at this moment, so I'll make it short.

The ONLY time you're allowed to intervene is when someone's life and self image is visibly deteriorating. If it's stable, leave it the fuck alone.

I've gotten into the habit of hiding what I've got because of people like you, and judging by the downvotes I'm getting, you're not alone in perpetuating the stigma and condescension. Every single "oh but you've done so WELL for yourself!" and "if you ever need anything..." is well intentioned, I know, but also incredibly hurtful. We all have our shit in life and each of us deals with it AS WE SEE FIT. Yeah, I do things that may seem weird to you, and sometimes it gets me into trouble, but that's my prerogative.

LEAVE. IT. ALONE.

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