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Comment by Avicebron | Hacker News Reader

I'm tired of people signaling themselves as "weird" kids, it wasn't that weird to like computers, there's this fetishization of being "weird", "aspergy", "autistic", that's so tired and sad. no it doesn't make you better or smarter, it's just normal, no no one is a superstar because they were that "hacker" kid, times change, money changes focus and boom, success, it's not smarts, it's timing. and for all the kids out there, that's what I want to impart, it's not smart it's timing, ML today, bioeng the next, maybe something else in the future, maybe "social studies" will become thing once you children learn that twitch is a neural net with concurrent nodes...oops ;).

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Lol...well then. Consider that it's possible that the time in history I'm talking about really was much more different than you realize. I could be wrong, but I'm assuming you didn't come of age during that time (the early to late 90s). I'm talking about when only a handful of funny people had modems or even computers. There were still many households that lacked a computer of any kind. And yes, if you were into computers, you were truly seen as different and even rather unfortunate. There wasn't even really a term for it. The term "autistic" still mostly applied to people who were almost catatonic and not interactive. It may be more or less impossible for people from the current generation of technologists to understand it. Nowadays, as you point out, the idea of being "weird" in that way has become so common place as to be a meme. That's because there's no aspect of our lives that computing has not infiltrated. I'm telling you there was a time when it was different.

That's right. It was a time when being called a nerd / geek was more of an insult.

I had to argue with my parents when purchasing a modem. They didn't understand it. Using their phone line to call other computers felt like a step not far from trouble.

Computers themselves were not discouraged. In my experience, the average adult in the early 90s saw computers as a glorified typewriter. A job would be advertised looking for 'typing skills'.

Not wanting to go outside and socialise was frowned upon.

Not true where and when I grew up (germany, in the 90s). Playing around with computers wouldn't get you any points with the ladys but it wasn't considered "weird", either.

Around 1992, it was totally normal to ask for a C64 or Amiga 500 for Christmas, if one was interested in such a thing and by 1995/96, there were only a handful of people left at school who had no access at all to a personal computer at home. By 2000, basically everyone between the age of 16 and 30 had internet at home.

Dunno mate, when I was one of only 5 people I knew in the world who really like this programming thing, it felt pretty weird.

Agree. My experience as well.

Being interested in computers and wanting to learn how to program was completely and totally alien to everybody I grew up with except for a few close friends. However that was 40+ years ago so things have changed.

It's easy to feel weird as a kid with less perspective over the world. I have empathy for anyone who felt they weren't like the other kids around them for good, productive reasons. Sure, thinking interest in computers = Asperger's is an immature way to convey this. But otherwise I think it's worth celebrating whenever anyone has two-sigmas-above-average nerdy interests, why not?

that's silly, I didn't equate interest in computers with Asperger's, that would be ridiculous, it's just that people like to flaunt some amount of being on a spectrum as a badge of pride, true or not. I'm not saying it's not fun to flaunt it, but, remember, if your two sigma's below average on the physical list your out of luck, times change, power/money changes

EDIT: most human beings feel weird as a kid. That's natural, whether you hit someone with a lacrosse stick or finally learn how to use a terminal, doesn't make you any cooler. money just moves my dude.

> tired of people signaling themselves as … this fetishization of being "weird", "aspergy", "autistic", that's so tired and sad … people like to flaunt some amount of being on a spectrum as a badge of pride … doesn't make you any cooler — Avicebron (4 hours ago)

> Not all people want a deeply personal relationship with their co-workers, many would even find being forced to engage in that intrusive. Unfortunately once those bonds are formed between some members of a team, often the team dynamic is shifted weirdly as some people feel forced into the "buddy buddy system"...it's classic now and forcing it into remote work seems like a nightmare — Avicebron (14 days ago)

your point being?

I didn't say you did, I was agreeing with you. I recommend reading comments' tone on HN as more neutral than the average internet comment.

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