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Are people so obsessed with monetary success that they'll sacrifice the joy of programming and computer science to watch Casey Neistat's vlog four times in a ro

Are people so obsessed with monetary success that they'll sacrifice the joy of programming and computer science to watch Casey Neistat's vlog four times in a row? I guess my priorities are totally out of order. I personally loathe sleazy marketing and the burlesque tonic people like Neistat feed to the public. It's an embarrassment that his name makes it to the front page of HN, when the post about XDP I was reading early today still has half the points. We're completely obsessed with the wrong things.

thoughtexplorer 8y ago
Well, maybe his strategies can be applied to getting XDP more attention. I think that's the driving interest here. > I personally loathe sleazy marketing and the burlesque tonic people like Neistat feed to the public. Can you expand on this? From what I've seen (which isn't much so could be missing something) it seems a lot more authentic than most.
- ilovecaching 8y ago
  > Can you expand on this? Certainly, the last video I saw of Neistat was titled "weird flex but ok", and was captioned with a picture of him holding his fingers in a manner suggestive of a small penis. I don't think promoting XDP with that same tactic would go over quite as well.
nate 8y ago
1) Casey's a great storyteller, filmmaker, and success. Just like anyone else who reads a book 4 times. Or practices a programming problem over and over again. I study how he accomplishes things over and over again. 2) As for priorities, I've been a software engineer since 1999 (CTO of two YC companies, W06 and S11). And the biggest thing holding me back? Not enough people using the things I make. You express as much with the XDP article. So I've realized I need to get a lot better at spreading my ideas than just programming them. Build it and they won't come. 3) Somehow I got good watching TV in the background while I program. Got a lot of practice doing things like math homework in front of the TV as a kid. I built Draft (http://draftin.com http://draftin.com) the writing software while I watched West Wing in the background for like the 10th time. Some people like going to cafes. Listening to music. I like putting on inspiring/fun TV that I don't have to think a lot about. I can't do this with cerebral shows. -- I don't usually reply to comments like these because it came across almost like a personal attack? You'll lose it when I tell you, one of my favorite pastimes is just watching Sesame Street with my kid :) instead of programming. Who cares what I do with my time? It's my time. I don't play golf. I don't go out. I don't paint. What I do do though in my free time is write, make movies, and look for inspiration everywhere. But I do hope the above did shed some light on why I think writing the article above was important to me and why it's subject matter I bother with at all beyond just programming.
cstrahan 8y ago
> Are people so obsessed with monetary success that they'll sacrifice the joy of programming and computer science to watch Casey Neistat's vlog four times in a row? I guess my priorities are totally out of order. Alternative take: Programming is a job, and an often frustrating one at that. I could be be programming all day, and every bit could help push my career (and financial success) forward... but I'd rather not be obsessed with monetary success, and instead choose to relax to video or two of whimsical goofball doing his thing. And I say this as someone who has contributed an awful lot to open source.
- ilovecaching 8y ago
  I'm personally motivated by computer science for its own sake. I don't understand the viewpoint that it's a path to a monetary reward. I am incredibly lucky that someone pays me for it, gives me free snacks, and does my dry cleaning, but before that I was just as happy in grad school eating ramen, uncovering the mysteries of computation. I see Neistat as junk food, empty calories designed to keep us addicted to that which gives us no nourishment. What relaxes me is getting to code on my own time, without deadlines. I don't care if anyone uses my code, I do it for myself.

thoughtexplorer 8y ago

Well, maybe his strategies can be applied to getting XDP more attention. I think that's the driving interest here. > I personally loathe sleazy marketing and the burlesque tonic people like Neistat feed to the public. Can you expand on this? From what I've seen (which isn't much so could be missing something) it seems a lot more authentic than most.

ilovecaching 8y ago
> Can you expand on this? Certainly, the last video I saw of Neistat was titled "weird flex but ok", and was captioned with a picture of him holding his fingers in a manner suggestive of a small penis. I don't think promoting XDP with that same tactic would go over quite as well.

nate 8y ago

1) Casey's a great storyteller, filmmaker, and success. Just like anyone else who reads a book 4 times. Or practices a programming problem over and over again. I study how he accomplishes things over and over again. 2) As for priorities, I've been a software engineer since 1999 (CTO of two YC companies, W06 and S11). And the biggest thing holding me back? Not enough people using the things I make. You express as much with the XDP article. So I've realized I need to get a lot better at spreading my ideas than just programming them. Build it and they won't come. 3) Somehow I got good watching TV in the background while I program. Got a lot of practice doing things like math homework in front of the TV as a kid. I built Draft (http://draftin.com http://draftin.com) the writing software while I watched West Wing in the background for like the 10th time. Some people like going to cafes. Listening to music. I like putting on inspiring/fun TV that I don't have to think a lot about. I can't do this with cerebral shows. -- I don't usually reply to comments like these because it came across almost like a personal attack? You'll lose it when I tell you, one of my favorite pastimes is just watching Sesame Street with my kid :) instead of programming. Who cares what I do with my time? It's my time. I don't play golf. I don't go out. I don't paint. What I do do though in my free time is write, make movies, and look for inspiration everywhere. But I do hope the above did shed some light on why I think writing the article above was important to me and why it's subject matter I bother with at all beyond just programming.

cstrahan 8y ago

> Are people so obsessed with monetary success that they'll sacrifice the joy of programming and computer science to watch Casey Neistat's vlog four times in a row? I guess my priorities are totally out of order. Alternative take: Programming is a job, and an often frustrating one at that. I could be be programming all day, and every bit could help push my career (and financial success) forward... but I'd rather not be obsessed with monetary success, and instead choose to relax to video or two of whimsical goofball doing his thing. And I say this as someone who has contributed an awful lot to open source.

ilovecaching 8y ago
I'm personally motivated by computer science for its own sake. I don't understand the viewpoint that it's a path to a monetary reward. I am incredibly lucky that someone pays me for it, gives me free snacks, and does my dry cleaning, but before that I was just as happy in grad school eating ramen, uncovering the mysteries of computation. I see Neistat as junk food, empty calories designed to keep us addicted to that which gives us no nourishment. What relaxes me is getting to code on my own time, without deadlines. I don't care if anyone uses my code, I do it for myself.