this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
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Technology
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I think it scratches a similar itch as most techbros: "if I can solve this hard problem, all problems are easy!" It's a mentality I see constantly, especially on the orange site.
Problem: exists for decades and has not been solved by experts with tons of funding in all that time.
Redditor with zero knowledge or context: Why don't they just do X, Y, Z? It's so easy 😏
In this case, the problem was solved over 60 years ago. This billionaire decided to reject the tried and tested solution and came up with their own.
I like asking the "why don't they..." question as a genuine question because it's a great way to learn a lot in a short time
It's worse than that. They're narcissistic and think they have the answer to every problem. I worked for a boss like this who had Aspergers syndrome (undiagnosed, but clear case)
He literally had bumper stickers made up with "[his name] is the answer" - he wasn't joking. If there ever was a problem he would immediately solve the problem in his mind, and that was the way we MUST do it. He would not accept rationalization as to why that might be a bad idea. I learned real fast not to tell him we had a problem.... until I already had a proposal, who was involved, and costs involved to fix the problem before he had a chance to solve the problem himself.
As someone with family on the autism spectrum myself, I’ve found they’re usually fairly open to whatever the facts are whether that disproves them or not. There’s a lot of overlap at times between narcissistic traits and autism, are you sure he just wasn’t a narcissist? I say that because refusing to accept the rationalization of what may be a bad idea just sounds dumb. (The bumper stickers made stand out to me too).
Alternatively he was just someone with autism who is narcissistic and with an ego who refused to accept any new information that countered what he had settled on.
I worked with him for 13 years, I wasn't the only one who saw the classic traits
The list goes on and on. But needless to say he refused to accept he might have been on the spectrum or get tested despite suggestions by fellow staff members who also dealt with his irrational outbursts on a daily basis
I think is just that it depends on the person, like some ppl might be less open than others bc thats just how they are whether or not they were ND. Maybe thats just how hise personality is or how his traits manifest
Hacker News can be so engaging, but then you go to the comments and it's so enraging.