Just a note of thanks, for the essay (which I skimmed, and will read more thoroughly when I have more time), but more for all of your writing (and direct activity) regarding hacker culture.
I hadn’t really made the connection in my mind between the different domains of rational/skeptical/hacker thought until this—I’m between you and Eliezer in age, and have considered myself a hacker since the mid-80s, having read a different subset of historical thought—light on philosophy, very heavy on the SF that everyone references, but also Knuth and Hofstadter and Dijkstra which mixed philosophy of thinking with rigor of procedural execution.
Since you’ve mentioned Rootless Root, I will say that there is another essay I am now thinking of writing about the playful use of Zen tropes. The rationalist community and the hacker culture both have strong traditions of this sort of play...but, the functional reasons for the tradition are not the same! And the way they differ is interesting.
Essay is up.
Just a note of thanks, for the essay (which I skimmed, and will read more thoroughly when I have more time), but more for all of your writing (and direct activity) regarding hacker culture.
I hadn’t really made the connection in my mind between the different domains of rational/skeptical/hacker thought until this—I’m between you and Eliezer in age, and have considered myself a hacker since the mid-80s, having read a different subset of historical thought—light on philosophy, very heavy on the SF that everyone references, but also Knuth and Hofstadter and Dijkstra which mixed philosophy of thinking with rigor of procedural execution.
Anyway, thanks for this! And for any other readers who aren’t familiar with your work, check out the Rootless Root at http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/unix-koans/ .
Since you’ve mentioned Rootless Root, I will say that there is another essay I am now thinking of writing about the playful use of Zen tropes. The rationalist community and the hacker culture both have strong traditions of this sort of play...but, the functional reasons for the tradition are not the same! And the way they differ is interesting.
That’s enough of a teaser for now. :-)