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TempleOS is actually pretty cool, when viewed as the product of one man's dream. How many people can say they've written a 64-bit, multi-core, protected mode O

TempleOS is actually pretty cool, when viewed as the product of one man's dream. How many people can say they've written a 64-bit, multi-core, protected mode OS that comes with its own programming language? Then, throw in a flight simulator game, just for giggles. Honestly, if it weren't the product of religious delusions common with schizophrenia, I'd say TempleOS and HolyC would be more than enough of a resume to get hired into many programming jobs.

tombert 3y ago
I totally agree; regardless of Terry Davis' strangeness, there's no doubt a certain level of brilliance to it. Honestly, I think that's kind of why TempleOS has been so compelling to people. It's insane, but also beyond the skills of 99.99% of the population. So much of the so-bad-its-good stuff required effort, and TempleOS is no exception.
chmod600 3y ago
For someone so delusional, it's interesting that he was effective enough to do anything. How far detached from reality can you be and still create something that objectively works? Could someone delusional also create a rocket ship? Or is there something special about programming that makes it compatible with delusional thinking?
- Paul-Craft 3y ago
  "Delusional thinking" is a pretty broad umbrella. There's nothing that's fundamentally incompatible with a delusional thought process per se, but the particulars might be a problem. In Terry's case, it sounded like he suffered from a lot of delusions of persecution (e.g. thinking the CIA is after him), and religious delusions. Neither of these are fundamentally incompatible with any sort of technical or scientific thought process. Had he not been delusional, I suspect we might either never have heard of him, or he'd be one of the people making the front page of HN on a semi-regular basis.
- Hasu 3y ago
  > Could someone delusional also create a rocket ship? Or is there something special about programming that makes it compatible with delusional thinking? Newton studied alchemy and Linus Pauling believed against all evidence that vitamin C cured cancer and basically everything else. Humans are very good at applying their (ir)rationality to certain subfields while abandoning it in others.
  - Paul-Craft 3y ago
    I'll give you Pauling, but Newton studying alchemy in the 17th and 18th centuries would have been far from delusional when you consider "Robert Boyle pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations"[0] around that time. According to the same Wikipedia article, it was only sometime between 1720-1740 when "alchemy" came to mean "attempts to transmute other materials into gold." Newton died in 1726. --- [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy#Later_modern_period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy#Later_modern_period
    - FrustratedMonky 3y ago
      Alchemy was a pre-curser of Chemistry, and it is logical leap that this is not delusional, just 'early science'. BUT. Newton also studies Bible Numerology. Trying to find number patterns in the Bible. So maybe Newton also had his quirks. Maybe any mind that is exploring new ideas, will sometimes go down some blind alleys.
  - DANmode 3y ago
    Vitamin C cures cancer like ivermectin kills COVID-19 - it doesn't actually fix the bigger problem, but, if your body has been trashed so badly that you actually have medical need to have one of these put into your arm, the improvement in your immune system would be drastic.
- stickfigure 3y ago
  > Could someone delusional also create a rocket ship? Or is there something special about programming that makes it compatible with delusional thinking? Programming (eg, TempleOS) can be successful as a solo endeavor. I'm not sure we have enough technical leverage for a single person to create a rocket ship (ie, something capable of lifting real loads to orbit). Maybe in the future when AI systems can fill in some of the details and/or automate the construction. If you have to coordinate with other humans, insanity is tough. Nobody else can hear the voices in your particular head.
EgregiousCube 3y ago
Sort of related, I was browsing the github of the author of the Hyprland wayland compositor to see what else he's built. Smiled at https://github.com/vaxerski/Holy6800 https://github.com/vaxerski/Holy6800 - I love this kind of useless but cool project.
diath 3y ago
> Honestly, if it weren't the product of religious delusions common with schizophrenia, I'd say TempleOS and HolyC would be more than enough of a resume to get hired into many programming jobs. He actually was employed as a programmer before the whole schizophrenia/TempleOS arc.
- 29athrowaway 3y ago
  He had a master's degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University and worked at Ticketmaster as a VAX programmer. He also started programming in assembly from an early age. He comes from a time where they had to share 2 MB of memory among 100 users. He can run circles around many modern programmers.
DonHopkins 3y ago
>Honestly, if it weren't the product of religious delusions common with schizophrenia Are you forgetting or whitewashing his racist delusions, or are you saying that religious delusions imply racist delusions? Going around delusionally telling everyone that Jesus loves them isn't the same thing as shouting the n-word at everyone.
DANmode 3y ago
It's interesting, because in reviewing TempleOS, and his way of explaining what he had done, and how he spoke about it, I always got the vibe that the religious references were him "doing his duty" (what he was compelled to) while just being a hacker. Not that the whole OS was an offering to God. Did I miss that?

tombert 3y ago

I totally agree; regardless of Terry Davis' strangeness, there's no doubt a certain level of brilliance to it. Honestly, I think that's kind of why TempleOS has been so compelling to people. It's insane, but also beyond the skills of 99.99% of the population. So much of the so-bad-its-good stuff required effort, and TempleOS is no exception.

chmod600 3y ago

For someone so delusional, it's interesting that he was effective enough to do anything. How far detached from reality can you be and still create something that objectively works? Could someone delusional also create a rocket ship? Or is there something special about programming that makes it compatible with delusional thinking?

Paul-Craft 3y ago
"Delusional thinking" is a pretty broad umbrella. There's nothing that's fundamentally incompatible with a delusional thought process per se, but the particulars might be a problem. In Terry's case, it sounded like he suffered from a lot of delusions of persecution (e.g. thinking the CIA is after him), and religious delusions. Neither of these are fundamentally incompatible with any sort of technical or scientific thought process. Had he not been delusional, I suspect we might either never have heard of him, or he'd be one of the people making the front page of HN on a semi-regular basis.
Hasu 3y ago
> Could someone delusional also create a rocket ship? Or is there something special about programming that makes it compatible with delusional thinking? Newton studied alchemy and Linus Pauling believed against all evidence that vitamin C cured cancer and basically everything else. Humans are very good at applying their (ir)rationality to certain subfields while abandoning it in others.
- Paul-Craft 3y ago
  I'll give you Pauling, but Newton studying alchemy in the 17th and 18th centuries would have been far from delusional when you consider "Robert Boyle pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations"[0] around that time. According to the same Wikipedia article, it was only sometime between 1720-1740 when "alchemy" came to mean "attempts to transmute other materials into gold." Newton died in 1726. --- [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy#Later_modern_period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy#Later_modern_period
  - FrustratedMonky 3y ago
    Alchemy was a pre-curser of Chemistry, and it is logical leap that this is not delusional, just 'early science'. BUT. Newton also studies Bible Numerology. Trying to find number patterns in the Bible. So maybe Newton also had his quirks. Maybe any mind that is exploring new ideas, will sometimes go down some blind alleys.
- DANmode 3y ago
  Vitamin C cures cancer like ivermectin kills COVID-19 - it doesn't actually fix the bigger problem, but, if your body has been trashed so badly that you actually have medical need to have one of these put into your arm, the improvement in your immune system would be drastic.
stickfigure 3y ago
> Could someone delusional also create a rocket ship? Or is there something special about programming that makes it compatible with delusional thinking? Programming (eg, TempleOS) can be successful as a solo endeavor. I'm not sure we have enough technical leverage for a single person to create a rocket ship (ie, something capable of lifting real loads to orbit). Maybe in the future when AI systems can fill in some of the details and/or automate the construction. If you have to coordinate with other humans, insanity is tough. Nobody else can hear the voices in your particular head.

EgregiousCube 3y ago

Sort of related, I was browsing the github of the author of the Hyprland wayland compositor to see what else he's built. Smiled at https://github.com/vaxerski/Holy6800 https://github.com/vaxerski/Holy6800 - I love this kind of useless but cool project.

diath 3y ago

> Honestly, if it weren't the product of religious delusions common with schizophrenia, I'd say TempleOS and HolyC would be more than enough of a resume to get hired into many programming jobs. He actually was employed as a programmer before the whole schizophrenia/TempleOS arc.

29athrowaway 3y ago
He had a master's degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University and worked at Ticketmaster as a VAX programmer. He also started programming in assembly from an early age. He comes from a time where they had to share 2 MB of memory among 100 users. He can run circles around many modern programmers.

DonHopkins 3y ago

>Honestly, if it weren't the product of religious delusions common with schizophrenia Are you forgetting or whitewashing his racist delusions, or are you saying that religious delusions imply racist delusions? Going around delusionally telling everyone that Jesus loves them isn't the same thing as shouting the n-word at everyone.

DANmode 3y ago

It's interesting, because in reviewing TempleOS, and his way of explaining what he had done, and how he spoke about it, I always got the vibe that the religious references were him "doing his duty" (what he was compelled to) while just being a hacker. Not that the whole OS was an offering to God. Did I miss that?