Jacques, I really enjoy your writing, but you do realize you're talking about cult worship on HN… and you're not even talking about the cult worship of PG? :)
_why was unique. And he was a gentle, sensitive soul. And now, for all intents and purposes, he's gone. I didn't hassle him; you didn't hassle him; and yet because of the hassling, he left.
WhyDay is not about _why, it's about how people feel about _why. Those of us who didn't care what his real name is, only that he cared to share his humor and code with us.
FTR… I met _why at the first RailsConf, and I asked him to sign my t-shirt. He seemed completely flabbergasted that I'd want him to "ruin" it. I had to repeatedly confirm that I really, really wanted him to draw on it. He was so shy about it. After I talked him into signing it, he spent 10 minutes drawing one of his famous ducks on my back. It tickled like hell. I still wear the t-shirt.
I've heard the cult worship of PG trotted out here before and while I'm sure not everybody here is entirely objective I tend to see that in the light of those that are hopeful to get in to YC by being defensive of PG even though he's more than capable of defending himself. So I don't buy that.
And I'm also pretty sure that PG is more than capable of puncturing right through such nonsense and that anybody that thinks they can get in to his good book that way is going to find it either neutral or maybe even negative.
And it's not as though someone here will name a day for PG if he decides to stop being an investor, or shuts down HN, and I'd be surprised if someone did.
And PG is as much or more a mentor to a large number of people and in a more general way than this _why character, no matter how nice he may have been.
I detect a parallel to the kind of grieving that goes on when someone passes away, but in this case that grieving is misplaced. Nobody died. Some guy did a bunch of stuff, decided that he didn't like the amount and kind of attention that he received and took his toys back home, which was entirely within his rights to do.
Judging by the kind of comments here _why's followers appear to be mostly in the third stage at this point, though there are still a few of them that are still in the anger phase.
Now go and do your own stuff, amaze us all and try to show the world how to deal with that attention, both negative and positive in a better way than _why did.
I'm already amazing and showing the world blah blah blah. So what?
I'm not allowed to feel sentimental for somebody you judge as not strong enough to "live" (persona-wise)? Best remove the plank from your own eye, etc.
Comments
Jacques, I really enjoy your writing, but you do realize you're talking about cult worship on HN… and you're not even talking about the cult worship of PG? :)
_why was unique. And he was a gentle, sensitive soul. And now, for all intents and purposes, he's gone. I didn't hassle him; you didn't hassle him; and yet because of the hassling, he left.
WhyDay is not about _why, it's about how people feel about _why. Those of us who didn't care what his real name is, only that he cared to share his humor and code with us.
FTR… I met _why at the first RailsConf, and I asked him to sign my t-shirt. He seemed completely flabbergasted that I'd want him to "ruin" it. I had to repeatedly confirm that I really, really wanted him to draw on it. He was so shy about it. After I talked him into signing it, he spent 10 minutes drawing one of his famous ducks on my back. It tickled like hell. I still wear the t-shirt.
What a guy. I miss him.
I've heard the cult worship of PG trotted out here before and while I'm sure not everybody here is entirely objective I tend to see that in the light of those that are hopeful to get in to YC by being defensive of PG even though he's more than capable of defending himself. So I don't buy that.
And I'm also pretty sure that PG is more than capable of puncturing right through such nonsense and that anybody that thinks they can get in to his good book that way is going to find it either neutral or maybe even negative.
And it's not as though someone here will name a day for PG if he decides to stop being an investor, or shuts down HN, and I'd be surprised if someone did.
And PG is as much or more a mentor to a large number of people and in a more general way than this _why character, no matter how nice he may have been.
I detect a parallel to the kind of grieving that goes on when someone passes away, but in this case that grieving is misplaced. Nobody died. Some guy did a bunch of stuff, decided that he didn't like the amount and kind of attention that he received and took his toys back home, which was entirely within his rights to do.
Judging by the kind of comments here _why's followers appear to be mostly in the third stage at this point, though there are still a few of them that are still in the anger phase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model
Now go and do your own stuff, amaze us all and try to show the world how to deal with that attention, both negative and positive in a better way than _why did.
I'm sure there is room for that.
I'm already amazing and showing the world blah blah blah. So what?
I'm not allowed to feel sentimental for somebody you judge as not strong enough to "live" (persona-wise)? Best remove the plank from your own eye, etc.
I think you're misunderstanding me, email in your inbox.
j.