Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I normally don't call people out on this as we are human and we need wiggle room for conversation and the f

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I normally don't call people out on this as we are human and we need wiggle room for conversation and the formulation of opinions. Plus, everyone is guilty of this, me included. In fact, the previous statement is me doing it as well. We are human after all. But I do tend to call people out on this when people stifle curiosity with these type of claims. Knowing myself, I know that 10 years ago I might've taken your advice to heart as I didn't know any better. I know that I've done this in other areas of my life and it has had a negative impact. So I am here to produce a counter voice loudly proclaiming that one should be very sceptical about taking your opinion to heart. Some people claim God exists. And I therefore should live quite differently than I am right now. I require extraordinary evidence. Some people claim that you can't become a hacker if you need to ask it. I require extraordinary evidence. In spirit of my sentiment, I'm going to give you a counterexample. I'm the counterexample. Step 1: Go to http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html Step 2: Complete Binary and Malware Analysis at the Vrije Universiteit Step 3: Complete Computer and Network Security at the Vrije Universiteit Step 4: Complete Hardware Security at the Vrije Universiteit Step 4b (bonus, I mean, you're there now anyway): Complete Kernel Programming at the Vrije Universiteit Step 5: Go to https://hackthebox.eu https://hackthebox.eu, hack at least 1 easy, 1 medium, 1 hard and -- for good measure -- 1 insane box Congratulations, you are now a hacker in every sense of the word: 1. You broke into computer systems. 2. You needed to be curious in order to do it. If you think this is my whole path then that's not true. This is simply the happy path that I uncovered. It's not optimal, but it works. It might not work for everyone, but I'm sure it will work for more people than just me. I am now a hacker. And I'm sure there are more counter examples stemming from the VUSec group that started hacking real machines after that. That's my evidence. I don't expect that you have enough evidence as your position is much tougher and I wouldn't even know how to begin on starting an argument that does. My point simply is: please be a bit careful about the accuracy of your statements if it implies negative consequences. Inconvenient truths are fine, but simply opinions without any backing that leads to something negative really feels disheartening to read. Note: I didn't downvote. I don't think you had any ill intentions. And you do provide your actual view in a succinct manner (something I could learn from O:) ). And that's what discussion is all about, albeit a bit rough at times, perhaps.