4 ms·

Did he stop writing/publishing/being active? pg so fundamentally changed my way of looking at things like not a lot of authors before. It also made me very depr

Did he stop writing/publishing/being active? pg so fundamentally changed my way of looking at things like not a lot of authors before. It also made me very depressed because I began to realize how fucked up life as an SE can be if you work in the wrong environments. But it also enlightened me and now I know precisely where I want to be.

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mysterypie 9y ago
He used to be a prolific commenter here on HN, but he hasn't posted for 2.5 years[1] though he did write three short essays in 2017[2]. I assume that middle age, wife, child, and running a startup incubator/accelerator are major impediments to anyone continuing with comments, essays, and programming. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=pg https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=pg [2] http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html
- ema 9y ago
  Reading (not even) between his lines it seems that it was the increased hostility of online discourse that stopped him from writing more. I'm sure he hasn't run out of ideas and wouldn't mind sharing them if there was less screaming in response to them.
  - natecavanaugh 9y ago
    I wonder if some nominal fee might filter out those who wish to troll him and his content. Like maybe a buck a month to read his content, 2 to be able to comment and add to the discussion. It could still be moderated to filter the trolls with means, but I haven't run across too many people who are willing to contribute 24 bucks a year in order to scream at someone else online. Maybe a scheme like Pinboard, where each user raises the cost in a small way as a selective pressure for handling user growth. But I could be deluded. I believe his ideas and content are worth far more than the prices I mentioned, but if he'd give them away, why not to folks who are willing to put some skin in the game? For me, he's one of the few writers online where I'd pay for consistent thought pieces.
sotojuan 9y ago
Seems like his output diminished after he had kids, which makes perfect sense.

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mysterypie 9y ago

He used to be a prolific commenter here on HN, but he hasn't posted for 2.5 years[1] though he did write three short essays in 2017[2]. I assume that middle age, wife, child, and running a startup incubator/accelerator are major impediments to anyone continuing with comments, essays, and programming. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=pg https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=pg [2] http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html

ema 9y ago
Reading (not even) between his lines it seems that it was the increased hostility of online discourse that stopped him from writing more. I'm sure he hasn't run out of ideas and wouldn't mind sharing them if there was less screaming in response to them.
- natecavanaugh 9y ago
  I wonder if some nominal fee might filter out those who wish to troll him and his content. Like maybe a buck a month to read his content, 2 to be able to comment and add to the discussion. It could still be moderated to filter the trolls with means, but I haven't run across too many people who are willing to contribute 24 bucks a year in order to scream at someone else online. Maybe a scheme like Pinboard, where each user raises the cost in a small way as a selective pressure for handling user growth. But I could be deluded. I believe his ideas and content are worth far more than the prices I mentioned, but if he'd give them away, why not to folks who are willing to put some skin in the game? For me, he's one of the few writers online where I'd pay for consistent thought pieces.

sotojuan 9y ago

Seems like his output diminished after he had kids, which makes perfect sense.