3 ms·

Can I ask you, when Lee’s personality began to change drastically, did he maintain the same level of technical proficiency (in coding or gaming)? It is a wonder

by Tycho 7y ago

Can I ask you, when Lee’s personality began to change drastically, did he maintain the same level of technical proficiency (in coding or gaming)? It is a wonderful piece on a very sad story, and after reading it that’s one of the things that I’m interested to know more about, to understand the general condition.

eastdakota 7y ago
I don't know about gaming, but I do about coding. First, if I look back over the 18 years I knew him, I can see some things that make me think he had the disease the whole time. He was a brilliant coder when he first started working with me out of college, but I think he really hit his peak ability to focus and do amazing things around 2014 — right as we were rolling out Universal SSL. But, even to the end, he was great at coding. In fact, I was told that the doctors said one of the things that was unique about his presentation of the disease was that while most people lose the ability to complete complex tasks first, Lee almost seemed to do the opposite — still thriving on the complex. We brainstormed whether there were coding challenges we could keep sending him after his diagnosis to keep that part of his mind active. It never ended up happening in part because he lost a lot of his verbal communication skills around the same time, but I wonder when you hear him counting under his breath what puzzle he's still solving in his head.
thephyber 7y ago
I spent most of my time with him when he only starting a family and his business tasks were few. Most of the symptoms described in this article happened after his family and work responsibilities grew, which both reduced his time for MMORPG / RTS gaming. When his older son was old enough, they would play casual games together, but that's a completely different realm of proficiency required.

3 ms·

Can I ask you, when Lee’s personality began to change drastically, did he maintain the same level of technical proficiency (in coding or gaming)? It is a wonder

by Tycho 7y ago

eastdakota 7y ago
I don't know about gaming, but I do about coding. First, if I look back over the 18 years I knew him, I can see some things that make me think he had the disease the whole time. He was a brilliant coder when he first started working with me out of college, but I think he really hit his peak ability to focus and do amazing things around 2014 — right as we were rolling out Universal SSL. But, even to the end, he was great at coding. In fact, I was told that the doctors said one of the things that was unique about his presentation of the disease was that while most people lose the ability to complete complex tasks first, Lee almost seemed to do the opposite — still thriving on the complex. We brainstormed whether there were coding challenges we could keep sending him after his diagnosis to keep that part of his mind active. It never ended up happening in part because he lost a lot of his verbal communication skills around the same time, but I wonder when you hear him counting under his breath what puzzle he's still solving in his head.
thephyber 7y ago
I spent most of my time with him when he only starting a family and his business tasks were few. Most of the symptoms described in this article happened after his family and work responsibilities grew, which both reduced his time for MMORPG / RTS gaming. When his older son was old enough, they would play casual games together, but that's a completely different realm of proficiency required.