5 ms·

We are dealing with a person with mental illness, because nothing is coherent. It's all made up. That's why you don't answer that kind of mail, the goal is to t

We are dealing with a person with mental illness, because nothing is coherent. It's all made up. That's why you don't answer that kind of mail, the goal is to trigger a reaction from you.

ProAm 6y ago
> It's all made up. I think its the opposite, I think its an unqualified contractor writing code he doesn't understand for complex systems and was subsequently hacked. I see this a lot with people bidding on contracts then hiring staff/developers after it's awarded to duct tape a system together that barely works and is full of holes.
- Vinnl 6y ago
  I'm personally not very well-known, but I work for someone who is, and on a project that gets quite a lot of attention because of it. It's surprisingly common that people show up with extraordinary and incoherent stories. Given the author's name and email address are plastered all over, it is not surprising that such people would find him too. An article was shared here a while ago that went into that as well: https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/ https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/ (Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22280753 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22280753)
- PicassoCTs 6y ago
  This. The world is full of incompetent people winging it, and the competent ones are busy putting out the fires they left behind. It takes 3000 years to build a Ming-vase, but only a kid playing soccer to destroy it. Making a mess is a low effort endeavour. Cleaning it up, might as well be 1/99 of your lifetime. Tech projects are asymmetric warfare between the business side supporting the "cheapest" project approach and engineers allowed to clean it up properly only after the sunken cost fallacy trapped the clueless.
Zuider 6y ago
This is the sort of magical thinking that can be a symptom of paranoia, the unfortunate combination of extreme anxiety and a disengagement from realistic thinking. The person clearly does not know what Curl does and simply lashed out like a wounded animal at the first thing that caught his attention. I would take this threat very seriously.
mr-wendel 6y ago
^--- This. Every word of it. Two words went through my head reading the response. "Crystal Meth". Likely not, really, but having more-or-less lost an old friend to meth I can't help but compare the similarities (... the "identicalities" actually): - the desperation and paranoia - a solid (but wildly misplaced) basis in reality - the overwhelming externalization of blame - the need to lash out and draw someone else in - the completely nonsensical evidence Bottom line is regardless of the reason, "Al" is extremely unstable. I agree that the lesson here is to not engage these types.
- jstarfish 6y ago
  They are all also behavioral attributes of Jehovah's Witnesses and antisocial/Narcissistic personality disorders.
- agumonkey 6y ago
  > - a solid (but wildly misplaced) basis in reality can you explain this more ? I recognize some traits of these in me and siblings but we're not on meth at all.. so I find the psychological flaws interesting. sorry about your friend too
  - mr-wendel 6y ago
    You bet, and thanks for your condolences. In short, almost certainly this doesn't apply to you. The pattern is that in these scenarios, usually the people are quite intelligent and often accomplished. This gives them a repository of valid phrases and concepts to draw upon to breath legitimacy into their boogeymen. The evidence they present, however, is completely benign. That person, however, has quite the story they think is proven. It's literally as if they're showing you a basic electronic device w/ the cover removed and that proves all sorts of maliciousness. Attempting to argue back is completely ineffective and even if you "win" one point, they'll quickly shift to another and nothing sticks, especially not the next time you talk to them. I wouldn't even remotely compare this to more commonly contested topics like differing religious/political/social views, even at the extreme. This involves a visceral fear that >you< are actively being attacked, not some nefarious, shadow with a grand plan.
dennis_jeeves 6y ago
>We are dealing with a person with mental illness, because nothing is coherent. It's all made up Seem like the average person to me :)
- rhencke 6y ago
  Have you ever sat down and had a long, and deep conversation with someone suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia after they've experienced a psychotic break? I assure you, you will quickly understand the difference. Especially if that someone is your previously un-diagnosed friend and business partner.
moltar 6y ago
Bingo! It reads very similar to the GitHub repo of an insane person that was posted here about a year ago. The one where I think he/she talks of special agents and has a bunch of random files with random stuff in them.

We are dealing with a person with mental illness, because nothing is coherent. It's all made up. That's why you don't answer that kind of mail, the goal is to trigger a reaction from you.

ProAm 6y ago

> It's all made up. I think its the opposite, I think its an unqualified contractor writing code he doesn't understand for complex systems and was subsequently hacked. I see this a lot with people bidding on contracts then hiring staff/developers after it's awarded to duct tape a system together that barely works and is full of holes.

Vinnl 6y ago
I'm personally not very well-known, but I work for someone who is, and on a project that gets quite a lot of attention because of it. It's surprisingly common that people show up with extraordinary and incoherent stories. Given the author's name and email address are plastered all over, it is not surprising that such people would find him too. An article was shared here a while ago that went into that as well: https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/ https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/ (Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22280753 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22280753)
PicassoCTs 6y ago
This. The world is full of incompetent people winging it, and the competent ones are busy putting out the fires they left behind. It takes 3000 years to build a Ming-vase, but only a kid playing soccer to destroy it. Making a mess is a low effort endeavour. Cleaning it up, might as well be 1/99 of your lifetime. Tech projects are asymmetric warfare between the business side supporting the "cheapest" project approach and engineers allowed to clean it up properly only after the sunken cost fallacy trapped the clueless.

Zuider 6y ago

This is the sort of magical thinking that can be a symptom of paranoia, the unfortunate combination of extreme anxiety and a disengagement from realistic thinking. The person clearly does not know what Curl does and simply lashed out like a wounded animal at the first thing that caught his attention. I would take this threat very seriously.

mr-wendel 6y ago

^--- This. Every word of it. Two words went through my head reading the response. "Crystal Meth". Likely not, really, but having more-or-less lost an old friend to meth I can't help but compare the similarities (... the "identicalities" actually): - the desperation and paranoia - a solid (but wildly misplaced) basis in reality - the overwhelming externalization of blame - the need to lash out and draw someone else in - the completely nonsensical evidence Bottom line is regardless of the reason, "Al" is extremely unstable. I agree that the lesson here is to not engage these types.

jstarfish 6y ago
They are all also behavioral attributes of Jehovah's Witnesses and antisocial/Narcissistic personality disorders.
agumonkey 6y ago
> - a solid (but wildly misplaced) basis in reality can you explain this more ? I recognize some traits of these in me and siblings but we're not on meth at all.. so I find the psychological flaws interesting. sorry about your friend too
- mr-wendel 6y ago
  You bet, and thanks for your condolences. In short, almost certainly this doesn't apply to you. The pattern is that in these scenarios, usually the people are quite intelligent and often accomplished. This gives them a repository of valid phrases and concepts to draw upon to breath legitimacy into their boogeymen. The evidence they present, however, is completely benign. That person, however, has quite the story they think is proven. It's literally as if they're showing you a basic electronic device w/ the cover removed and that proves all sorts of maliciousness. Attempting to argue back is completely ineffective and even if you "win" one point, they'll quickly shift to another and nothing sticks, especially not the next time you talk to them. I wouldn't even remotely compare this to more commonly contested topics like differing religious/political/social views, even at the extreme. This involves a visceral fear that >you< are actively being attacked, not some nefarious, shadow with a grand plan.

dennis_jeeves 6y ago

>We are dealing with a person with mental illness, because nothing is coherent. It's all made up Seem like the average person to me :)

rhencke 6y ago
Have you ever sat down and had a long, and deep conversation with someone suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia after they've experienced a psychotic break? I assure you, you will quickly understand the difference. Especially if that someone is your previously un-diagnosed friend and business partner.

moltar 6y ago

Bingo! It reads very similar to the GitHub repo of an insane person that was posted here about a year ago. The one where I think he/she talks of special agents and has a bunch of random files with random stuff in them.