4 ms·

I always found this a bit weird. Why do you want everybody to know how old you are? It's kind of like... hey, I did this impressive thing, please give me credit

I always found this a bit weird. Why do you want everybody to know how old you are? It's kind of like... hey, I did this impressive thing, please give me credit, but also, just to give it some flare and kick it up a notch, I'm also super young making it that much more impressive! Why couldn't the title be > Show HN: I spent 6 months building a C debugger Why is your age relevant other than "wow factor"?

codetrotter 3y ago
It’s very common for teenagers to do so. I did the same when I was their age. No reason to question why they do it, it’s just a thing teenagers do.
- MuffinFlavored 3y ago
  > No reason to question why they do it, No, then they'll never learn that it is received by "adults" as "unnecessarily extra-attention seeking". Most people who like to share stuff are seeking validation one way or another (myself included). It might be worthwhile for OP to step back and ask "why am I seeking validation from strangers online to find what I post impressive"?
  - thibaut_barrere 3y ago
    Maybe he didn't come here to receive a therapy :-) Maybe it's just cool to connect with people similarly minded and share what everyone is doing, not necessarily for attention seeking, but because it improves everyone's situation by sharing extra knowledge? Just sharing what I did at a younger age brought me extraordinary connections at the time, some who still are friends 30 years later.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - alex_lav 3y ago
    It’s not random people’s job on the internet to coach kids like this. I also disagree with you entirely on the way “adults” will perceive this behavior, so clearly there are no unanimous perspectives on how others will interpret things. Maybe this will be a good moment of reflection for you, an “adult”.
skullone 3y ago
Because this is a highly unusual and complex thing for someone that young to accomplish? We should applaud them for their dedication and results. There's soooop much that can distract youth (or anyone of any age) from completing a pursuit like this. To the point I find your comment to be pedantic and ageist.
- _8j50 3y ago
  Your expectation that age should have prevented OP from doing cool things is what is ageist and harmful to the success of youth. A 17 year old can revolutionize the world if they wanted to, lest you "adults" set such a low bar.
  - skullone 3y ago
    But not many 17 year olds change the world. The standout people usually gain some form of recognition and cheers from people. Unless you're one of the "everyone's achievements are equal!" kind of person.
    - _8j50 3y ago
      If I was 17, did something cool and everyone acted shocked because of my age, I would feel like that was limit. But if my work was celebrated for its merit, then I would keep at it, doing even more cool stuff. Let me ask you honestly though, what is the difference between a 17 year old and a 50 year old doing the same thing if both started learning to code around the same time? The only message you are sending is that you had lower expectations because of their age. If you celebrate their work on its own, then they know they are accomplished no matter who they are stacked against. I don't care if it was a senior SWE at google who did this, I'd be equally as impressed, and that is what I want this person to know. They are not accomplished for their small age, they are accomplished period. In general I don't think everyone's accomplishments are equal. For example becoming a medical doctor at that age is very impressive agr considered. But for the software industry, the accesibility of information and tooling makes everyone with the same amount of free time, whether a 60 year old in africa or a 12 year old in california on equal footing. Flattery can often be harmful, especially when lacking objectivity.
_8j50 3y ago
I was about to make a similar comment. The project is impressive but a bit annoyed because he attached his age to it. OP, you'll do cool stuff. Your age, location,sex, etc... has nothing to do with it. A 60yr old hobo and a 17yr old kid who know nothing about programming are at an equal footing, what each accomplishes is the result of how much time and effort they put into it (not neccesarily the same). If you were like a 5 year old that'd be noteworthy but reading, writing, knowing how to use a computer and time is all that is needed for coding, unless you are out there creating or implementing sophisticated algorithms that require background mathematical knowledge. I'd love to be corrected on this but there isn't anything you learn in school beyond like the 6th grade that is needed to succeed as a coder (not SWE, just programming and creating cool stuff). I hope you let the coolness of your work speak for itself in the future OP.
- MuffinFlavored 3y ago
  I think it's super interesting that you and I went from upvoted -> downvoted. It seems the community is pretty split on agreeing with us / thinking we're the problem. Interesting how we can't all get along... Try to give a youngin' some friendly unsolicited advice, only to get told we're the problem. After a while it trains you to suppress your opinion/not speak up. Those who put us down the hardest will dominate and we'll give up + stay silent. What will that lead to? A chamber full of...
  - _8j50 3y ago
    Oh yeah, that's HN. They'll even follow your every post and downvote out of spite. It is appearances only many seek not genuine and sincere truth.
    - pvg 3y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statler_and_Waldorf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statler_and_Waldorf
      - _8j50 3y ago
2C64 3y ago
Different strokes, but the context in which something is built can be just as interesting as what is built when it is unusual. See also the post recently about the open source contributor working from a prison in Maine - that's interesting for a ton of reasons. In this case there are two interesting things: that they built a debugger and that they are 17. The latter information might also lead to more interesting helpful comments for the kid versus a "okay, and?" series of responses. And at the end of the day, every Show HN has a bit of "hey, notice me!" in it - whether or not age or other identifying information is included. I don't think that's bad.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
pvg 3y ago
If you squint, 'no weird meta nitpickery' is not hard to derive from most of https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html
w4yai 3y ago
Because of people like you most likely. There are so many reasons why young people are discouraged or plainly afraid to do things nowadays. They're being told they can't do X or Y because it's too complicated. They're also brutally judged when they show off something. So yeah, being able to spend 6 month building such a nice piece of code is awesome and admirable, BUT ALSO being able to pull it off at this age is another accomplishment that should be applauded. Let's support our young generation, don't do the same mistake than your older generation and don't be mad because you weren't receiving the same amount of support at his age.
HybridCurve 3y ago
The author's age is relevant as it gives the rest of the community a standard at which to judge their achievement, and a reference point to base our criticisms. Users here can be savage when judging other's work and castigating a person at this age would be both unnecessary and detrimental to their development.

codetrotter 3y ago

It’s very common for teenagers to do so. I did the same when I was their age. No reason to question why they do it, it’s just a thing teenagers do.

MuffinFlavored 3y ago
> No reason to question why they do it, No, then they'll never learn that it is received by "adults" as "unnecessarily extra-attention seeking". Most people who like to share stuff are seeking validation one way or another (myself included). It might be worthwhile for OP to step back and ask "why am I seeking validation from strangers online to find what I post impressive"?
- thibaut_barrere 3y ago
  Maybe he didn't come here to receive a therapy :-) Maybe it's just cool to connect with people similarly minded and share what everyone is doing, not necessarily for attention seeking, but because it improves everyone's situation by sharing extra knowledge? Just sharing what I did at a younger age brought me extraordinary connections at the time, some who still are friends 30 years later.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- alex_lav 3y ago
  It’s not random people’s job on the internet to coach kids like this. I also disagree with you entirely on the way “adults” will perceive this behavior, so clearly there are no unanimous perspectives on how others will interpret things. Maybe this will be a good moment of reflection for you, an “adult”.

skullone 3y ago

Because this is a highly unusual and complex thing for someone that young to accomplish? We should applaud them for their dedication and results. There's soooop much that can distract youth (or anyone of any age) from completing a pursuit like this. To the point I find your comment to be pedantic and ageist.

_8j50 3y ago
Your expectation that age should have prevented OP from doing cool things is what is ageist and harmful to the success of youth. A 17 year old can revolutionize the world if they wanted to, lest you "adults" set such a low bar.
- skullone 3y ago
  But not many 17 year olds change the world. The standout people usually gain some form of recognition and cheers from people. Unless you're one of the "everyone's achievements are equal!" kind of person.
  - _8j50 3y ago
    If I was 17, did something cool and everyone acted shocked because of my age, I would feel like that was limit. But if my work was celebrated for its merit, then I would keep at it, doing even more cool stuff. Let me ask you honestly though, what is the difference between a 17 year old and a 50 year old doing the same thing if both started learning to code around the same time? The only message you are sending is that you had lower expectations because of their age. If you celebrate their work on its own, then they know they are accomplished no matter who they are stacked against. I don't care if it was a senior SWE at google who did this, I'd be equally as impressed, and that is what I want this person to know. They are not accomplished for their small age, they are accomplished period. In general I don't think everyone's accomplishments are equal. For example becoming a medical doctor at that age is very impressive agr considered. But for the software industry, the accesibility of information and tooling makes everyone with the same amount of free time, whether a 60 year old in africa or a 12 year old in california on equal footing. Flattery can often be harmful, especially when lacking objectivity.

_8j50 3y ago

I was about to make a similar comment. The project is impressive but a bit annoyed because he attached his age to it. OP, you'll do cool stuff. Your age, location,sex, etc... has nothing to do with it. A 60yr old hobo and a 17yr old kid who know nothing about programming are at an equal footing, what each accomplishes is the result of how much time and effort they put into it (not neccesarily the same). If you were like a 5 year old that'd be noteworthy but reading, writing, knowing how to use a computer and time is all that is needed for coding, unless you are out there creating or implementing sophisticated algorithms that require background mathematical knowledge. I'd love to be corrected on this but there isn't anything you learn in school beyond like the 6th grade that is needed to succeed as a coder (not SWE, just programming and creating cool stuff). I hope you let the coolness of your work speak for itself in the future OP.

MuffinFlavored 3y ago
I think it's super interesting that you and I went from upvoted -> downvoted. It seems the community is pretty split on agreeing with us / thinking we're the problem. Interesting how we can't all get along... Try to give a youngin' some friendly unsolicited advice, only to get told we're the problem. After a while it trains you to suppress your opinion/not speak up. Those who put us down the hardest will dominate and we'll give up + stay silent. What will that lead to? A chamber full of...
- _8j50 3y ago
  Oh yeah, that's HN. They'll even follow your every post and downvote out of spite. It is appearances only many seek not genuine and sincere truth.
  - pvg 3y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statler_and_Waldorf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statler_and_Waldorf
    - _8j50 3y ago

2C64 3y ago

Different strokes, but the context in which something is built can be just as interesting as what is built when it is unusual. See also the post recently about the open source contributor working from a prison in Maine - that's interesting for a ton of reasons. In this case there are two interesting things: that they built a debugger and that they are 17. The latter information might also lead to more interesting helpful comments for the kid versus a "okay, and?" series of responses. And at the end of the day, every Show HN has a bit of "hey, notice me!" in it - whether or not age or other identifying information is included. I don't think that's bad.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

pvg 3y ago

If you squint, 'no weird meta nitpickery' is not hard to derive from most of https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

w4yai 3y ago

Because of people like you most likely. There are so many reasons why young people are discouraged or plainly afraid to do things nowadays. They're being told they can't do X or Y because it's too complicated. They're also brutally judged when they show off something. So yeah, being able to spend 6 month building such a nice piece of code is awesome and admirable, BUT ALSO being able to pull it off at this age is another accomplishment that should be applauded. Let's support our young generation, don't do the same mistake than your older generation and don't be mad because you weren't receiving the same amount of support at his age.

HybridCurve 3y ago

The author's age is relevant as it gives the rest of the community a standard at which to judge their achievement, and a reference point to base our criticisms. Users here can be savage when judging other's work and castigating a person at this age would be both unnecessary and detrimental to their development.