4 ms·

"Hacker" as in "Hacker News" is from an even more distant past. The word just got appropriately decaffeinated, so as to be acceptable within our current iterati

"Hacker" as in "Hacker News" is from an even more distant past. The word just got appropriately decaffeinated, so as to be acceptable within our current iteration of group think.

oldmanjay 10y ago
Is the groupthink in this case laughing at the anachronistic usage of M$?
- TelmoMenezes 10y ago
  No. The groupthink is what causes the usage of M$ to be anachronistic now, and also what made it fashionable at some point in the past. Treating subjective opinions as objective facts and laughing at members of the out-group are symptoms of being engaged in groupthink. Nothing wrong (or right) with any of that. I'm just observing.
greenshackle2 10y ago
I tried going to a 'hacker' meetup in my city. It was disappointing. I was asking people if they were programmers, the median reaction was "a programmer? oh lord no, I'm a [marketing/UI/non-technical] person". It seems the term was coopted and gutted by some in the startup scene. (I'm aware there are legitimate hackers in the startup scene, this was just one particular event in one particular city.)
- mancerayder 10y ago
  In my city there's 'growth hacking' meetups. It's too nakedly marketingistic to even consider seriously. I fear in the English language the word 'hack' is often being used as a synonym for 'shortcut'. The Lifehacker 'hacks' being prime examples.
  - greenshackle2 10y ago
    This one was advertised as for developers/coders/engineers/designers, but I'm in a second-tier (for developers) Canadian city. Many talented tech folks move to first-tier Canadian cities, or to first tier U.S. cities, which are zeroth tier by Canadian standards, if they aren't tied down.
- rbanffy 10y ago
  > I'm a [marketing/UI/non-technical] person". They are obviously confusing a hack with a hacker. /me ducks
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  Even if it wasn't non-technical people, it seems the pop culture of "hacker" attracts all the worst stereotypes of geeks. The really sharp ones don't seem interested in self-identifying as "hacker".

"Hacker" as in "Hacker News" is from an even more distant past. The word just got appropriately decaffeinated, so as to be acceptable within our current iteration of group think.

oldmanjay 10y ago

Is the groupthink in this case laughing at the anachronistic usage of M$?

TelmoMenezes 10y ago
No. The groupthink is what causes the usage of M$ to be anachronistic now, and also what made it fashionable at some point in the past. Treating subjective opinions as objective facts and laughing at members of the out-group are symptoms of being engaged in groupthink. Nothing wrong (or right) with any of that. I'm just observing.

greenshackle2 10y ago

I tried going to a 'hacker' meetup in my city. It was disappointing. I was asking people if they were programmers, the median reaction was "a programmer? oh lord no, I'm a [marketing/UI/non-technical] person". It seems the term was coopted and gutted by some in the startup scene. (I'm aware there are legitimate hackers in the startup scene, this was just one particular event in one particular city.)

mancerayder 10y ago
In my city there's 'growth hacking' meetups. It's too nakedly marketingistic to even consider seriously. I fear in the English language the word 'hack' is often being used as a synonym for 'shortcut'. The Lifehacker 'hacks' being prime examples.
- greenshackle2 10y ago
  This one was advertised as for developers/coders/engineers/designers, but I'm in a second-tier (for developers) Canadian city. Many talented tech folks move to first-tier Canadian cities, or to first tier U.S. cities, which are zeroth tier by Canadian standards, if they aren't tied down.
rbanffy 10y ago
> I'm a [marketing/UI/non-technical] person". They are obviously confusing a hack with a hacker. /me ducks
sliverstorm 10y ago
Even if it wasn't non-technical people, it seems the pop culture of "hacker" attracts all the worst stereotypes of geeks. The really sharp ones don't seem interested in self-identifying as "hacker".