Comment by whatever_dude | Hacker News Reader

Comment by whatever_dude | Hacker News Reader

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Great read, not just for people from Silicon Valley. It's good to put things into perspective.

It also reminds me of an article [1] about John Carmack and his choice of Dallas. To quote,

> “A lot of people, especially from California, say, ‘Texas? Why the hell are you in Texas?’ But I am generally happy to wave the flag and say, ‘No, I am not here under duress.’ I actually like it here. And we appreciate the sense of the Southern hospitality. You don’t get the sense that everyone needs to be coddled and taken care of. You get the sense of gumption.”

I have since fell in love with that word, "gumption". It's something you don't see in companies where people are being treated as kids and catered to with little superficial perks. But it's what get shit done.

I hope tech "visionaries" don't decide to adopt it and make it a new buzzword, however.

[1] http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/v..., discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10136565

"southern hospitality" is great if you're straight and white. as a counterpoint, Dallas is the only place I've lived where people have shouted homophobic slurs at me on the street in daylight.

I'm openly trans, I didn't pass until a few months after I went full-time (and even now I pass only 90% of the time; I've been clocked by other queer people), and I've lived in Dallas all my life. I've never had anyone shout anything homophobic or transphobic at me on the street.

Mind you, I live and work in the suburbs, so I'm not on the street very often, but I used to work downtown and the only harassment I got was from panhandlers. They got really angry whenever I'd say I don't carry cash, and a few got up in my face while I was eating in a restaurant and demanded my food, but they never said anything about my orientation or my gender. Hell, I still go partying in Deep Ellum on occasion, and nobody's ever said anything to me there.

On the other hand, when I visited NYC last year, some guy shouted "FAGGOT!" in my ear as I was crossing the street into Times Square.

Well, at least he's probably not from NYC if you were in Times Square.

But sorry, anyway.

Coming soon: The TechCrunch Gumption Awards™ 2017.

In seriousness though, it seems like Carmack hasn't been kicking ass like he used to, though it is probably just a lack of visibility. Didn't he start on rocketry too at some point?

I think it's lack of visibility combined with the fact that there's not much more to innovate by sheer force of will in the game graphics world anymore. The industry has matured, so now it's all about scaling a team and being within budget and whatnot rather than two guys bringing their vision to the world in 2 months. When you see a history of success in independent games recently, it's invariably because of a fresh idea rather than some unseen technological innovation.

He's still doing a lot in bringing Oculus' software to maturity, and to helping the industry in general. He had some role - both technical and logistical - in bringing Minecraft VR released just recently.

I think he retired from rocket science.

> It's good to put things into perspective.

A bunch of made up bullshit, no matter how entertaining, is NOT putting things into perspective. Oh, the irony.

If people relate to it, yes, it would put things into perspective. Just because something is "made up" does not mean it cannot be influential or give someone perspective. A lot of the fiction I read is more insightful than a history book.

I disagree. When one can find parallels to their own life in a tale (even if fictional), it can start a more comprehensive look at the overall system of values one employs, or how one uses their time.

Silicon Valley was once just hills and vegetation, and then some people arrived and started making shit up. Silicon Valley is made up Bullshit. We just made it up.

How do we get perspective on all this billshit people made up?

With more made up bullshit, of course.

I assume he's in Menlo Park now at Oculus. I wonder if he still feels the same way.

His quote is exactly in response to that. He is not moving there. People act surprised when he says that, so that is his reasoning: he prefers the culture of Texas/Dallas.

Sounds like he's in Dallas:

https://www3.oculus.com/en-us/blog/john-carmack-joins-oculus...

He still lives in Dallas. Which by the way is a far better option than Austin if you were to move to Texas.

Could you explain why? I was always told Austin is the fun, SXSW college town and Dallas is a nice big city but boring.

Coming from my friends who are from Dallas and went to Univerity of Texas.

Because the hipster pretentiousness of Austin is annoying. I'm reminded of this article: http://www.vice.com/read/reasons-why-austin-is-the-worst-pla...

The first point is the most salient:

> But you’re not keeping Austin weird. You’re engaging in this fake, utterly distasteful blend of irony and feigned enthusiasm that will eventually cause the city to self-implode under the density of its own facetiousness. Soon you won’t be able to identify a single genuine emotion within its borders. You don’t actually care about whiskey-infused bacon. You don’t give a shit about whiskey-infused bacon. You’re pretending to, because that’s what keeps the whole city from feeling like a big lie.

Also, the smugness of a good chunk of Austin's citizens is unbearable. See, this guy: https://np.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/4ts7mt/hawaiian_fall...

I don't really want to live in a city like that. Honestly, I enjoy living in a safe, quiet suburb with a low cost of living. I have that in Dallas.

And, hey, you know what else we have here? Ethnic food, of every kind. There's at least one good pho joint in every shopping center. We have an amazing Chinatown with some incredibly good Sichuan restaurants, Cantonese barbecue places, and more. We have multiple great Koreatowns. We've got a section of town filled with Ethiopian places. We've got all the ethnic food diversity of a coastal big city, married to the low-key, low-cost lifestyle of the suburbs. I love it here.

Most people don't want to admit that the suburbs are underrated. Bland compared to city life? Possibly. But the quality of life is definitely there.

My anecdote as a Dallas resident: Your description is correct. I visit Austin often. I personally want separation between what Austin offers and where I live. Dallas is boring and clean, an important aspect when comparing to living in inner-Austin. Granted many do not live in Dallas city proper and the northern suburbanization that has been occurring for many years in Dallas has/is occurring in Austin and were you blindfolded and dropped onto a northern tollway loop outside of either city you would not be able to distinguish the two.

From Austin, living in NYC, and I feel like Austin is boring and clean now.

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