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I think many programmers often lose empathy from too many long hours of deep problem solving and never really get it back. A therapist for instance once said th
by xwdv 6y ago
I think many programmers often lose empathy from too many long hours of deep problem solving and never really get it back. A therapist for instance once said that John Carmack had little to no empathy for other human beings.
- schoen 6y agoApparently this is from a psychiatric evaluation when he was caught perpetrating a burglary at age 14. That's definitely an unusual and disturbing thing for an adolescent to do. But do you have reason to think Carmack got that way at that age specifically because of his interest in programming, or that his interest in programming kept him that way thereafter? I'm skeptical of this because he went on to be a successful, respected computer scientist and business leader, as well as starting a family. While of course many people who've done each of these things may be bad at empathy (or worse!), I'm not aware that Carmack has somehow continued along the course he was on at 14.
- lmm 6y agoHe apparently put his desk in the hallway so he could see when everyone left, and fired a guy for not staying late enough (even though that guy was coming in early).