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Hackers and Painters
Big Ideas from the Computer Age
- Read in 16 minutes
- Contains 10 key ideas
Synopsis
In Hackers and Painters, author Paul Graham examines the creative nature of computer programming and the programming languages that facilitate it, as well as how programmers can use their skills to potentially make a fortune.
Key idea 1 of 10
Morals are as fleeting as fashion; and nerds are unpopular because they’re unaware of both.
What do you think fashion and morals have in common? At first glance, not much. But actually both phenomena are limited to a certain time and place.
Obviously, fashion sense is tied to a specific time: take a look at photos from the 1990s and you’ll see how far tastes have come since then. And if you look at images from foreign places like Japan, for example, even today you may be astonished at what is currently in fashion there, too.
It may be a surprise then to realize that morals are just as temporary and location-dependent. These moral fashions affect a whole spectrum of moral issues, including how you should treat other people and what values you cherish the most.
An extreme example: the moral compass of many Germans during World War II was very different than from the values of citizens in modern Germany today.
So, both clothing fashions and moral fashions are constantly changing. Can you think of any subgroup in society that is oblivious to these changes?
Of course: nerds, or smart people who are not socially adept and so don’t try to fit in with their peers. Nerds use their time and energy to become smarter without bothering to adhere to fashionable conventions, because being fashionable isn’t a goal. This may be most apparent if someone you know wears a neon denim jacket every day for five years, but it also applies to moral fashions.
The result is that nerds are not very likely to be popular among their peers, especially in high school. To be voted prom king or queen, a student usually has to be in tune with the current moral and clothing fashions.
But thankfully after high school – in the real world – where being fashionable doesn’t matter much anymore, nerds seem to do just fine.
Key ideas in this title
- Morals are as fleeting as fashion; and nerds are unpopular because they’re unaware of both.
- Computer hackers are like artists, in the sense that both groups want to make good things.
- Hackers need to be rebellious to be good at what they do.
- Launching a start-up can be a fast way to get rich, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
- The end-user’s opinion is the ultimate test for how successful your product and company are.
- Programming languages differ according to their purpose, and are being improved all the time.
- A good programming language is designed with taste and according to a hacker’s needs.
- Businesses prefer popular programming languages, but sometimes obscure ones could give them an edge.
- You could actually stop getting spam emails if you wanted to.
- Final Summary
