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A childhood friend of mine(32) from elementary school, has a mild autism and does not know how to deal with his life. We used to be mad doom fans (well, we stil

A childhood friend of mine(32) from elementary school, has a mild autism and does not know how to deal with his life. We used to be mad doom fans (well, we still are) when it came out and it stuck with us for years. But the poor guy is living with his family, sitting up until 4AM making Doom levels. At this stage he is one of the leading "levellers" at Doomworld[0]. "STILL MAKING LEVELS IN 2015" is a thing which is kind of funny, but it is actually sad. He's wasted so much of his young years thinking about Doom, making levels etc. I wish he'd just snap out of it, but it seems it will not happen. That is how the story goes I guess, with the kids you grow up with. Not all of them have the interpersonal and mental means to pick a chose a good path for themselves. [0] http://doomworld.com http://doomworld.com

ido 11y ago
That's not so bad, considering the alternatives for people in such a situation. I also have a friend in a somewhat similar place, although last we met he seems to have gotten a bit of a better grip on his life (managed to find some freelance work as a programmer, as far as I know he was never able to hold a "normal" steady job before). If we didn't have happen to be into computers as kids I'm pretty sure things would have been worse.
deleted 11y ago
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thristian 11y ago
Have you played (or watched somebody play) The Beginner's Guide¹? I watched a video of somebody playing through it, and it affected me pretty powerfully; now I'm pretty positive towards the idea of letting people express themselves creatively however they like and not trying to pressure them towards my ideas of "productivity". ¹: http://thebeginnersgui.de/ http://thebeginnersgui.de/
jmnicolas 11y ago
YOU are sad but what about him ? He might be the happiest guy in the world.
- antod 11y ago
  He probably is happy, but when I read that I'm sad for his parents. Especially when I think of them in another 10 or more years. And then a bit later I realise (selfishly?) there's more to it than empathy towards some strangers I've only just heard of, as it could be my own reality in another 20 years.
kyledrake 11y ago
http://www.viruscomix.com/indefenseofweird.jpg http://www.viruscomix.com/indefenseofweird.jpg
TrevorJ 11y ago
If it's fulfilling to him, then that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some people never find something they are passionate about.

ido 11y ago

That's not so bad, considering the alternatives for people in such a situation. I also have a friend in a somewhat similar place, although last we met he seems to have gotten a bit of a better grip on his life (managed to find some freelance work as a programmer, as far as I know he was never able to hold a "normal" steady job before). If we didn't have happen to be into computers as kids I'm pretty sure things would have been worse.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

thristian 11y ago

Have you played (or watched somebody play) The Beginner's Guide¹? I watched a video of somebody playing through it, and it affected me pretty powerfully; now I'm pretty positive towards the idea of letting people express themselves creatively however they like and not trying to pressure them towards my ideas of "productivity". ¹: http://thebeginnersgui.de/ http://thebeginnersgui.de/

jmnicolas 11y ago

YOU are sad but what about him ? He might be the happiest guy in the world.

antod 11y ago
He probably is happy, but when I read that I'm sad for his parents. Especially when I think of them in another 10 or more years. And then a bit later I realise (selfishly?) there's more to it than empathy towards some strangers I've only just heard of, as it could be my own reality in another 20 years.

kyledrake 11y ago

http://www.viruscomix.com/indefenseofweird.jpg http://www.viruscomix.com/indefenseofweird.jpg

TrevorJ 11y ago

If it's fulfilling to him, then that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some people never find something they are passionate about.