4 ms·

I went to Homestead High School (and have friends that went to Gunn/Paly) and the experiences I've witnessed have been similar. One of my friends has parents t

I went to Homestead High School (and have friends that went to Gunn/Paly) and the experiences I've witnessed have been similar. One of my friends has parents that worked at Adobe. During his junior year, he was taking AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C E&M, AP Physics C Mechanics and AP Computer Science. He got straight A's both semesters, and got a 5 on all of the AP tests. I went over to his house during the summer and found that there was a huge hole on the bottom of the door in his room. He told me it was because his mom was so angry at him for something school related (something trivial like getting only a 2100 on the SAT) that she kicked the door in. Another one of my friends' dad works at Intel. My friend ended up getting accepted into UC Davis (but rejected from UCLA/Berkeley/MIT), and, while I was in the room, his dad told him that UC Davis is for failures. This problem has little to do with the schools themselves. It has to do with the parents, and the reason why people come to live here in the Silicon Valley. People don't move here to live a great life, settle down and have kids. They come here to advance their career, and ultimately, to make money. Here in the valley, if you don't have marketable skills, you are trash. And the kids who grow up here know that all too well.

twblalock 11y ago
On the other hand, the parents are outliers, and rose above their peers. Would you expect them to be happy if their children were mediocre? After all, what are genes for?
- mikestew 11y ago
  Would you expect them to be happy if their children were mediocre? After all, what are genes for? I hope you're being sarcastic, but in case you're not, my answer is "yes, I would expect them to be happy if their child is mediocre." It is my hope to not have to explain why.
- knieveltech 11y ago
  Yeah, I really would. Source: parent.
- jsudhams 11y ago
  Yes, Why not?, their parents were outliers in their environment and in their time. Mostly they will be worse than their children if they were to do that same now. It is simple stupidity to expect the kid to be like us. Parenting should be giving advice, support and teaching the right things. How the kid grows up is up to him/her. I for one believe that if you do everything for kid pretty much you are live their life and they don't have anything to look back and either be happy about a decision or sad and hence they never learn.
- stephengillie 11y ago
  I call it the "impact wrench" theory of engineer motivation. Impact wenches are wrenches that turn when you hit them with a hammer - apply pressure and they spin. Hitting harder makes them spin a bit faster. The same with engineers, and 100+ hour founder work weeks are a great example.
- ScottBurson 11y ago
  "In statistics, regression toward (or to) the mean is the phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement, it will tend to be closer to the average on its second measurement..." [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean
- paulddraper 11y ago
  "What are genes for?" Totally. Anyone who adopts is an idiot.
rajacombinator 11y ago
Pretty lulzy considering Adobe and Intel are both extremely mediocre, even in Silicon Valley.
- hugi 11y ago
  What an oddly appropriate comment.
  - knieveltech 11y ago
    And the irony is compounded by your downvotes. You'd think you hit a nerve or something.
- qq66 11y ago
  In what way? Intel makes the best CPUs in the world and Adobe makes the best photo editing software in the world. How are they mediocre?
  - jedmeyers 11y ago
    Apparently to be a non-mediocre company on HN the company has to have zero revenue but use the cutting-edge technology stack.
  - paulddraper 11y ago
    They don't use React
augustt 11y ago
Couldn't agree more; having supportive parents makes all the difference. I'm a junior in a similar situation course-wise (AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, and AP Comp Sci last year), but my parents have found the balance between being overly demanding and too permissive. With their encouragement, the stress rarely gets to me - unlike some of my friends whose parents have them spend their summers and vacations studying for the SAT.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

twblalock 11y ago

On the other hand, the parents are outliers, and rose above their peers. Would you expect them to be happy if their children were mediocre? After all, what are genes for?

mikestew 11y ago
Would you expect them to be happy if their children were mediocre? After all, what are genes for? I hope you're being sarcastic, but in case you're not, my answer is "yes, I would expect them to be happy if their child is mediocre." It is my hope to not have to explain why.
knieveltech 11y ago
Yeah, I really would. Source: parent.
jsudhams 11y ago
Yes, Why not?, their parents were outliers in their environment and in their time. Mostly they will be worse than their children if they were to do that same now. It is simple stupidity to expect the kid to be like us. Parenting should be giving advice, support and teaching the right things. How the kid grows up is up to him/her. I for one believe that if you do everything for kid pretty much you are live their life and they don't have anything to look back and either be happy about a decision or sad and hence they never learn.
stephengillie 11y ago
I call it the "impact wrench" theory of engineer motivation. Impact wenches are wrenches that turn when you hit them with a hammer - apply pressure and they spin. Hitting harder makes them spin a bit faster. The same with engineers, and 100+ hour founder work weeks are a great example.
ScottBurson 11y ago
"In statistics, regression toward (or to) the mean is the phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement, it will tend to be closer to the average on its second measurement..." [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean
paulddraper 11y ago
"What are genes for?" Totally. Anyone who adopts is an idiot.

rajacombinator 11y ago

Pretty lulzy considering Adobe and Intel are both extremely mediocre, even in Silicon Valley.

hugi 11y ago
What an oddly appropriate comment.
- knieveltech 11y ago
  And the irony is compounded by your downvotes. You'd think you hit a nerve or something.
qq66 11y ago
In what way? Intel makes the best CPUs in the world and Adobe makes the best photo editing software in the world. How are they mediocre?
- jedmeyers 11y ago
  Apparently to be a non-mediocre company on HN the company has to have zero revenue but use the cutting-edge technology stack.
- paulddraper 11y ago
  They don't use React

augustt 11y ago

Couldn't agree more; having supportive parents makes all the difference. I'm a junior in a similar situation course-wise (AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, and AP Comp Sci last year), but my parents have found the balance between being overly demanding and too permissive. With their encouragement, the stress rarely gets to me - unlike some of my friends whose parents have them spend their summers and vacations studying for the SAT.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]