3 ms·
English is what people make of it. My blog was subtitled "passionate programming" for six years. Never once did I think of passionate programming as something o
by raganwald 17y ago
English is what people make of it. My blog was subtitled "passionate programming" for six years. Never once did I think of passionate programming as something one suffers for a few hours or days then burns out of with disillusion.
Have I been wrong all these years?
In any event, the second part of your reply is far more interesting, especially in conjunction with a recent HN front page page article suggesting that founders should give employees a bigger taste of early stage liquidation events.
For that reason, I am upmodding you.
- timr 17y agoNo, I don't think you were wrong. (Unless you're one of those people who used the word to mean "willing to work really hard to make me rich", in which case, you're both wrong and evil. ;-)) I think that a lot of well-meaning people (like yourself) were using "passionate" in the 'enthusiasm' sense. My feeling of this essay is that the author was taking on the people who mean it in the other sense. Personally, I think they're much more common.
- raganwald 17y agoWell, it's rather contextual. If you tell me so-and-so is passionate about women, I am inclined to assume he or she has many temporary passions for many different women. If you tell me they're passionate about women's issues, I am inclined to think this is a matter of conscience that is likely to last a lifetime. But just to be clear, if I was thinking passionate about making money in the business of software, I'd say that :-)