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Some people might think that this is non-related to hacker news and boring but I'd like to make the case that it is related. These archeologists in the amazon

Some people might think that this is non-related to hacker news and boring but I'd like to make the case that it is related. These archeologists in the amazon searching for ruins are the 'hackers' of the field. These people where all told that no civilization could exist in this forest and they all proved them wrong and did it their own way. They do it for the love of the hunt, the excitement, the same reason why we love to code.

critic 18y ago
"Hackers are Archaeologists" now? PG, are you listening?
davidw 18y ago
It's completely unrelated to this site's usual topics. However, it is not in the 'toxic' category: politics, religion, and the like. People who aren't interested can simply move on, and it's unlikely to draw in people who want to debate Marx vs Mises or that sort of thing. Not that it matters much one way or the other, but I don't really mind this sort of off-topic article as long as they aren't too common.
cedsav 18y ago
I found the article inspiring, so thanks to the OP. As an entrepreneur, I sometime struggle with the idea that everything has been done, all the great ideas have been implemented, and I'm one step behind, trying to get by on the long tail of history. Of course this is not true. There still are lost cities to be found in the 21st century, and an infinite number of opportunities for those willing to work hard enough to discover them.
rgr 18y ago
I worry about people using the work 'hacker' so broadly that it becomes meaningless. Is a football player a hacker because he's 'hacking' his body to optimize the actions that would lead to a touchdown? Please let's stick to 'hacker' as a person who creates innovative technology.
- tdonia 18y ago
  according to wikipedia, technology is "a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its environment" so the football player in your example, the one [not?] "'hacking' his body to optimize the actions that would lead to a touchdown" only fails to be a hacker by your definition ("a person who creates innovative technology" ) if he's not being innovative. which is a subjective decision that's impossible to evaluate from your analogy. i worry about people using the word "hacker" so narrowly that we let our subjective prejudices arbitrarily limit our ability to innovate.
- greendestiny 18y ago
  I agree. Hacker is a word that only a small subculture of computer programmers would call themselves, despite what attributes they might project on others. This article was interesting to hackers, I haven't met a hacker yet who wasn't at least peripherally interested in archaeology, architecture, psychology and history.
  - herval 18y ago
    But does it mean we should include in this aggregator everything every hacker considers interesting (but is NOT hacker news at all)...?
- whatusername 18y ago
  How about a person who creates an innovative diet/training regime - that actually works Or even the ones building the latest undetectable steroids, blood transfusion techniques to get High Altitude blood into the system, etc.. Much more interesting reading than "I put a rails GUI infront of a simple database" startups.
- dkarl 18y ago
  I agree. Isn't it a bit arrogant that every time we see somebody displaying ingenuity, inquisitiveness, or any other intellectual virtue, we think, "Hey, just like a computer programmer!"
- 18y ago
tallanvor 18y ago
While I wouldn't equate archeologists to hackers, I still consider this to be an interesting article. --I'd actually be surprised if this wasn't at least somewhat interesting to a majority of the readers here.
- Ardit20 18y ago
  I found it fascinating and if anything it reminded me that reality can be much more exciting than any fiction.
thaumaturgy 18y ago
No, it's silly to try to draw any parallel between the content of this article and entrepreneurship or "hacking". I would much rather see this article as simply something that might be interesting to people that like to think about stuff.
herval 18y ago
I'll follow your line of thought and start posting food recipes on hacker news. Chocolate and Bacon Pizza, for example. Only a Hacker-Gourmet could ever think of something like that... What do you think?

critic 18y ago

"Hackers are Archaeologists" now? PG, are you listening?

davidw 18y ago

It's completely unrelated to this site's usual topics. However, it is not in the 'toxic' category: politics, religion, and the like. People who aren't interested can simply move on, and it's unlikely to draw in people who want to debate Marx vs Mises or that sort of thing. Not that it matters much one way or the other, but I don't really mind this sort of off-topic article as long as they aren't too common.

cedsav 18y ago

I found the article inspiring, so thanks to the OP. As an entrepreneur, I sometime struggle with the idea that everything has been done, all the great ideas have been implemented, and I'm one step behind, trying to get by on the long tail of history. Of course this is not true. There still are lost cities to be found in the 21st century, and an infinite number of opportunities for those willing to work hard enough to discover them.

rgr 18y ago

I worry about people using the work 'hacker' so broadly that it becomes meaningless. Is a football player a hacker because he's 'hacking' his body to optimize the actions that would lead to a touchdown? Please let's stick to 'hacker' as a person who creates innovative technology.

tdonia 18y ago
according to wikipedia, technology is "a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its environment" so the football player in your example, the one [not?] "'hacking' his body to optimize the actions that would lead to a touchdown" only fails to be a hacker by your definition ("a person who creates innovative technology" ) if he's not being innovative. which is a subjective decision that's impossible to evaluate from your analogy. i worry about people using the word "hacker" so narrowly that we let our subjective prejudices arbitrarily limit our ability to innovate.
greendestiny 18y ago
I agree. Hacker is a word that only a small subculture of computer programmers would call themselves, despite what attributes they might project on others. This article was interesting to hackers, I haven't met a hacker yet who wasn't at least peripherally interested in archaeology, architecture, psychology and history.
- herval 18y ago
  But does it mean we should include in this aggregator everything every hacker considers interesting (but is NOT hacker news at all)...?
whatusername 18y ago
How about a person who creates an innovative diet/training regime - that actually works Or even the ones building the latest undetectable steroids, blood transfusion techniques to get High Altitude blood into the system, etc.. Much more interesting reading than "I put a rails GUI infront of a simple database" startups.
dkarl 18y ago
I agree. Isn't it a bit arrogant that every time we see somebody displaying ingenuity, inquisitiveness, or any other intellectual virtue, we think, "Hey, just like a computer programmer!"
18y ago

tallanvor 18y ago

While I wouldn't equate archeologists to hackers, I still consider this to be an interesting article. --I'd actually be surprised if this wasn't at least somewhat interesting to a majority of the readers here.

Ardit20 18y ago
I found it fascinating and if anything it reminded me that reality can be much more exciting than any fiction.

thaumaturgy 18y ago

No, it's silly to try to draw any parallel between the content of this article and entrepreneurship or "hacking". I would much rather see this article as simply something that might be interesting to people that like to think about stuff.

herval 18y ago

I'll follow your line of thought and start posting food recipes on hacker news. Chocolate and Bacon Pizza, for example. Only a Hacker-Gourmet could ever think of something like that... What do you think?