Mental illness is not a joke [VIDEO]
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He's a mad scientist, dude wrote an OS. That's what happens. If any one of you pushed through on your startup past the point of hope (like a lot of the posts on here recommend by "successful" individuals who are very likely nearly as "delusional" but hide it better) you would be exactly the same.
He's just coming out with his "fuck this, I'm in the Matrix" ultra-superstitious moments which takes a lot of balls. He's got nothing to lose, so fuck it. I bet a LOT of old programmers on here see this guy and think "yeah, I've had some God moments."
If I had a billion dollars, I would give this guy a million bucks just for sticking to his guns for a decade. He's obviously not an idiot. He just hit that point in programming where you realize the universe is made of voxels made of energy and that we're stupid animals competing for dominance, everything we do is subconsciously motivated and the things we say are mostly lies we've convinced ourselves of.
Let's all hate celebrities and people more successful than we are! Let's tear down the pack leaders and earn tribal status so we have access to the women! Save the princess!
If you don't understand this, you either haven't reached the point of seeing the superficial as it is, haven't separated from the herd for long enough to ever think for yourself, haven't reached a high enough level of maturity, or you're made so uncomfortable by it you just repress it and agree with the status quo but on some level know it's right.
What exactly is the difference between this and a pac-man clone written in Excel? Do you realize this is how scary and insane writing a shell script looks to the average person? I'm guessing the difference is the Christian bent. I'm not religious, but most of the world is. Do you know why?
The obsession with religion is creepy and foreign, but it's unfortunately the best thing we've got to align to. You like classical geniuses? Bach, maybe? Dude hid secret messages in his songs and wrote them all as an offering to God, wrote crazy shit on the top of every page. It's a good thing we all see Bach for what he is and publicly criticize him as being a mentally ill pariah freak, and not hold him up as some kind of musical genius hero. Hundreds of examples like this.
Let's put YOU under the spotlight for a moment here:
"Open source is coming. Watch out for the revolution."
Open source? You mean those mentally ill homeless drugged up Berkeley hippy protesters with neckbeards camping outside Microsoft? Those guys are a cancer to this business.
Yeah, watch out for the revolution. Look, this obsessed nerd thinks SOURCE CODE is a revolution. Yeah, the world sure gives a huge fuck about software being open. We're gonna see everyone just pouring into the streets and rioting any day now because we've finally been set free from our oppressors.
(Tongue in cheek, devil's advocate, showing perspective.)
By the way, this guy wrote an open source OS. Why aren't you hacking on his project? Maybe it's great, have you looked at the technical side of it?
Watch me get attacked for defending the guy the hivemind has decided to hate.
Either way, here's what's gonna happen: Some cute little Christian bird that likes computers is gonna fall in love with this courageous man here, they're gonna get hitched and live happy as clams. That's probably everything you ever wanted, but you're too busy hacking away trying to achieve wealth and status because you're insecure, while this guy is shagging his wife to the beat of his insane randomly generated music. God (nature) wins, the end.
I never said, nor did I imply that I hated the creator of losethos. I've praised his ability, skill, perseverance and talent that he possesses. And while your "fuck this, I'm in the Matrix" argument makes sense to a degree, Terrence Davis has PUBLICLY admitted that he is schizophrenic. Now, I don't know if he's either a really talented programmer/troll, or if he really is ill, or if he's just going through a phase. I don't know the guy. But many of his comments do make sense, and then lapse into nonsense gibberish. He does also display many signs of schizophrenia, such as disorganized, breaking speech, extreme ability to concentrate on a single, specific topic, and belief in an idol as a source of catharsis.
I doubt any person who took the time to write an OS for 10 full years would go to those extents to troll. When he's not talking nonsense, he seems like a logical and nice guy, honestly. My whole intention was to show how mentally ill people do not think the way normal people do, and highlight how it can negatively affect their life. This guy also had to leave his job on some unknown but probably intense terms.
And while you make a remark that I'm following the herd, the herd hates him. I do not. I have nothing against mad scientists; many have brought some very great things to society.
As a 14-year-old whose father is a physician with a degree in psychology, I HAVE asked him what the symptoms are. I HAVE showed him Davis' comments and videos. And my father believes it's very likely that Davis indeed has schizophrenia.
I have thought about this topic for hours at a time while I code (yes, I know, I have no life). I have reached a conclusion, and it is that Davis does have schizophrenia. Why would somebody sit home and code an OS for years, living off of disability instead of putting that talent to work in a traditional environment, especially when said person has a degree in computer science? Granted, there are crazy people in technology. Even Linus himself seems to be bipolar at times, but the fact of the matter remains that Davis is off the hook. Seriously off the hook.
(As for your open source comment, what I meant was less about hippies lining up outside of 1 Infinite Loop, but more about the virtues of FOSS itself and how its implications could have on society in general, thus, a "revolution.")
This isn't severe schizophrenia, this is just plain religion/schizoid/basically the same thing.
Severe schizophrenia results in the shirtless man with one shoe on stumbling down the street screaming at cars.
This is just religion. Pretty much the majority of the world population agrees with this line of thinking.
Everyone's brain starts to break, and we fall apart. Everyone is a tattered, delusional mess by the end, some worse than others.
Stress can fuck you up. Just coding on one thing for too long can fuck you up. Learning too much can expand your mind to the point where your world doesn't make sense anymore. However, even if you talk in gibberish equations, if you've got your appeal-to-authority badge (PhD) and approval sticker (work for a corp) nobody can tell you you're crazy. It is, however, kind of insane to lock yourself in a patent office and scribble equations about how invisible things work, and go around telling people you understand why the moon makes the water rise.
Non-religious people take medication or see a therapist and dismiss the "crazy thoughts" and repress them away. Religious people believe it is God/The Universe/Whatever calling to them and that they should follow their heart and go sing hymns in a megachurch with 1000 other schizoids. I take it your dad isn't religious.
I think Terry Davis is saying he's schizo because that's the only way to be himself and say what he really thinks on the internet (by agreeing with their assessment) which typically mocks any alternative thinking to utter destruction. I'm betting that he feels pretty awful about how badly they mocked something he was so proud of, and is probably very frustrated that 99% of them obviously can't even begin to have any concept of the difficulty of the work. So he's just burning it down now and not giving a fuck. Good for him!
Imagine that Linus is indeed bi-polar. That means he is in fact statistically more dangerous than Terry here. I'm betting he's had quite a few "Matrix" moments himself and has the business/social sense to hide it. That actually makes him less respectable in idealistic terms, but more successful and respected in our superficial society. Them there's politics. If Terry was a greedier and more calculating man he could have disguised and concealed his true nature in order to push his agenda and perhaps gain financially. He chose not to. For this deed, the internet's response is utter lack of respect and mockery, showing how shallow in general the net is.
FOSS was started by a bunch of insane hippies, and computer programmers in general were pariahs. How society views insanity over time changes as they understand and accept the changes. Look at Stallman, dude is at least as insane as this guy, he just has the cred to get away with it. He also doesn't show off his Matrix hacking skillz, but I bet he's had his share of moments.