Why So Many Top Hackers Hail from Russia • Hacker News Board

Re: Why So Many Top Hackers Hail from Russia

#81

Post by arvinsim » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 4:54 AM UTC

balabaster wrote: post #25

vrutkovs wrote: post #6

This article may have a point about poor state of basic computer education in US, but its just blindly guesses the reasons on the topic of why so many hackers are from ex-USSR countries. A pretty good level of CS doesn't help here much - take a look at Europe, for instance. The secret ingredient is a culture of cheating. Its absolutely fine to cheat on any level of exam (unless you get caught, obviously). This makes…

Here is my experience with this: I grew up the eldest sibling of a struggling single Mom. We didn't have very much. We had to make every penny count. She spent every spare penny we had one year on our first computer to teach herself to program to get herself a better job so we could have an easier life. I was 8. It was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K. She had to sacrifice a lot to afford that computer. In comparison, I wa…

> A hacker cares very little about the surface. They want to understand every little nuance. They want to understand how it works, why it works the way it does. Their exploration to extend their understanding uncovers bugs. Most people stop at understanding the features and finding bugs. The hacker wants to understand the bugs too. Why does it occur? When does it occur? What conditions trigger it? What are the implications of it? They want to understand everything.

It is important to remember that we don't have unlimited time. While the hacker mindset is very good for understanding things, we also need to have the wisdom to pick which one is worth deep diving into. We need to learn which ones to leave or delegate.

Re: Why So Many Top Hackers Hail from Russia

#82

Post by jjeaff » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 11:19 AM UTC

JBlue42 wrote: post #76

jrimbault wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, a lack of math teachers could be explained because people who have decent math skills can now live off that skill by being an engineer much more easily than before when they would have been math teachers.

Anecdotes from growing up in the rural US. In high school: - We went through three math teachers one year because they could find less stressful, better-paying work as accountants. - My AP Stats teacher had to work weekends at Best Buy.

Anecdote from my rural area. The last few math teachers eventually switched over to being the librarian or home economics teacher. Because it paid exactly the same but the curriculum was much easier to teach and isn't subject to the stresses and rigors of standardized testing.

Re: Why So Many Top Hackers Hail from Russia

#83

Post by balabaster » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 2:42 PM UTC

arvinsim wrote: post #81

balabaster wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is my experience with this: I grew up the eldest sibling of a struggling single Mom. We didn't have very much. We had to make every penny count. She spent every spare penny we had one year on our first computer to teach herself to program to get herself a better job so we could have an easier life. I was 8. It was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K. She had to sacrifice a lot to afford that computer. In comparison, I wa…

> A hacker cares very little about the surface. They want to understand every little nuance. They want to understand how it works, why it works the way it does. Their exploration to extend their understanding uncovers bugs. Most people stop at understanding the features and finding bugs. The hacker wants to understand the bugs too. Why does it occur? When does it occur? What conditions trigger it? What are the implic…

Indeed. This is something that comes with experience though. Frequently you don't learn this until you really find your feet and start seeing the patterns between what separates the good tools from the bad... or even the implications of one toolset over another. Sometimes the stupidest most brain dead tool turns out to have implications nobody else ever gave thought to until the light bulb fires in your head and you get that "Wait a minute..." Eureka moment.

Re: Why So Many Top Hackers Hail from Russia

#84

Post by coldtea » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 3:21 PM UTC

jabwork wrote: post #74

coldtea wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The secret ingredient is a culture of cheating. Its absolutely fine to cheat on any level of exam (unless you get caught, obviously). This makes students think about the weak points of any system, gives them a chance to train their skills etc. Sorry, what? They are better at math because they cheat at exams, and thus they "train" their minds? That's not even wrong.

I read this as the culture of cheating teaches analysis of the system (education /testing) and how to identify weak points and exploit them Then, using the same analytical skills, students are better prepared to analyze other systems (eg security) and pinpoint/exploit their weakness

>I read this as the culture of cheating teaches analysis of the system (education /testing) and how to identify weak points and exploit them

Still far fetched (and plain wrong -- it would work for all other "cultures of cheating" too).