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As a kid I spend my weekends and my summers doing nothing. "Nothing" was in the perspective of adults of course. Nothing they wanted me to do. To me, doing no
by devereaux 9y ago
As a kid I spend my weekends and my summers doing nothing.
"Nothing" was in the perspective of adults of course. Nothing they wanted me to do.
To me, doing nothing meant reading all the books I could find, exploring some random subject and if it was fun, experimenting with it, randomly.
One year I found a chemistry book. I started reading it and wondering what happens when I mix this and this chemicals? And I did, and oh what a pretty color! But why? Can I predict the outcome of mixing these chemicals? If I let the residue dry, does it burn? It doesn't, but then why is the flame blue when I use copper, red when I use iron?
Another year I found an electronic book. Yet another, it was an old book about Basic. After that, many of my summers were spent learning about computers and programming languages, which lead me to where I am now.
I don't think I would have done any of this if I had been exhausted by exams, chores etc.
- thegabez 9y agoThis is not the typical behavior of a teenager.
- thriftwy 9y agoActually it is. All the wonders we did when we could put our hands on some calcium carbide...
- devereaux 9y agoBehavior is influenced by environments. Kids have a natural proclivity to experiment with things -- innovate, regardless of the circumstances. Have you never noticed? However, they are not very often left free to innovate. Someone mentioned their kid spent too much time playing videogames. I did too. After I finally got a computer, someday I found this old game called Doom 2. I spent months with it, as it was so smooth on my low end computer. Then I got bored, but I discovered I could create my own levels! I had nothing to model, so I created a level based on my school. I didn't have maps of anything, but my school was easy to remember as I went there every day. Now imagine any of this is a modern context - a teenager doing nothing, mixing and burning random chemicals to see what happens, and finally not just playing "violent" videogames, but making one replicating the school floor plan!! I would be certainly labelled a menace to society!! The environment influences behavior of kids and most of the time, I think it exerts a negative influence. I believe in free time, and being non judgemental. Everyone has to figure out their own path in life.
- Nition 9y agoAs you probably know, the Columbine shooters had ostensibly made a Doom map of their school and indeed a big deal was made about it by people who didn't know anything about Doom or map editors or videogames. Of course just about everyone who's made maps for any sort of game has tried to make their house or their school. It's just fun to put the real-life places you know into a game.
- devereaux 9y agoI know that in retrospect. I didn't know it back then, or I wouldn't have done the level. Kids do things just randomly, to experiment in various domains. We project our fears onto them. In doing so, we influence them. I am very surprised by most of the reactions to this article, on HN of all places.
- dragonwriter 9y agoIt may not be the most typical, but it's certainly within the range of common behavior patterns.