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Anyone here ever work with a genius who wasn't an asshole? I did and he'll always be a key part of the template to which I both aspire and measure others. It's

Anyone here ever work with a genius who wasn't an asshole? I did and he'll always be a key part of the template to which I both aspire and measure others. It's not like the stories about Carmack make him out to be a saintly, fuzzy human but I will definitely give him credit for standing firm on some big ideals/principals, even if I don't share them. I guess I just hope that you can (a) be really good at your work - like -genius good - and also (b) a decent, empathetic human being. Wishful thinking? maybe, but I don't really want to be top-level successful if you've gotta choose.

karthikb 8y ago
Most geniuses aren't assholes. But no one writes news stories about individuals that have no drama and are pleasant to work with.
- criddell 8y ago
  Woz is a notable exception to your rule.
- halestock 8y ago
  Er, John Carmack?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
jfoutz 8y ago
Knuth? i mean, i've never worked with him, but he's apparently great.
- nailer 8y ago
  He doesn't consider mathemetical flaws to be bugs. Not saying that makes him an asshole, but as a product person, this has has harmed TeX's ability to complete it goal of allowing anyone to create typeset documents.
  - gjm11 8y ago
    Would you care to elaborate?
    - nailer 8y ago
      Knuth's stance on bugs and TeXs goals are pretty well documented online.
  - nailer 8y ago
    Correcting self (post obviopusly doesn't make sense otherwise): Knuth doesn't consider NON mathemetical flaws to be bugs.
keerthiko 8y ago
I maintain that my cofounder is a genius (computer vision and signal processing), and he's one of the kindest nicest people I have known. Being good at something and not being toxic to humans you interact with are absolutely orthogonal -- it's just that a lot of geniuses can get away with being douches, that we let it happen.
- sah2ed 8y ago
  One thing a lot of people seem to miss is that being nice is a choice [0] -- nicety to others is a learnable skill. [0] https://www.princeton.edu/news/2010/05/30/2010-baccalaureate-remarks https://www.princeton.edu/news/2010/05/30/2010-baccalaureate...
dblohm7 8y ago
>Anyone here ever work with a genius who wasn't an asshole? Absolutely. Those are the people we should want to work with and strive to become.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
WalterBright 8y ago
Hal Finney.
suprfnk 8y ago
John Carmack himself? He seems like a great guy. Or wouldn't you call him a genius?

karthikb 8y ago

Most geniuses aren't assholes. But no one writes news stories about individuals that have no drama and are pleasant to work with.

criddell 8y ago
Woz is a notable exception to your rule.
halestock 8y ago
Er, John Carmack?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

jfoutz 8y ago

Knuth? i mean, i've never worked with him, but he's apparently great.

nailer 8y ago
He doesn't consider mathemetical flaws to be bugs. Not saying that makes him an asshole, but as a product person, this has has harmed TeX's ability to complete it goal of allowing anyone to create typeset documents.
- gjm11 8y ago
  Would you care to elaborate?
  - nailer 8y ago
    Knuth's stance on bugs and TeXs goals are pretty well documented online.
- nailer 8y ago
  Correcting self (post obviopusly doesn't make sense otherwise): Knuth doesn't consider NON mathemetical flaws to be bugs.

keerthiko 8y ago

I maintain that my cofounder is a genius (computer vision and signal processing), and he's one of the kindest nicest people I have known. Being good at something and not being toxic to humans you interact with are absolutely orthogonal -- it's just that a lot of geniuses can get away with being douches, that we let it happen.

sah2ed 8y ago
One thing a lot of people seem to miss is that being nice is a choice [0] -- nicety to others is a learnable skill. [0] https://www.princeton.edu/news/2010/05/30/2010-baccalaureate-remarks https://www.princeton.edu/news/2010/05/30/2010-baccalaureate...

dblohm7 8y ago

>Anyone here ever work with a genius who wasn't an asshole? Absolutely. Those are the people we should want to work with and strive to become.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

WalterBright 8y ago

Hal Finney.

suprfnk 8y ago

John Carmack himself? He seems like a great guy. Or wouldn't you call him a genius?