diff --git a/content/images/cliff.jpg b/content/images/cliff.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b4ec53 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/images/cliff.jpg differ diff --git a/content/posts/the-hacker-mindset.md b/content/posts/the-hacker-mindset.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6bfda7e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/the-hacker-mindset.md @@ -0,0 +1,71 @@ +--- +title: "The Hacker Mindset" +date: 2024-02-24T16:43:00+01:00 +image: /images/cliff.jpg +--- + +Image credit: [AT&T Tech Channel - Cliff Stoll: Good Science](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHEIOgONq6A) + +First, there comes excruciating pain. Suddenly, an eye blinding flash travels across his eyes. Look at +him. He finally gazed outside the womb. He is now a small fraction of this world and all of its +complications. Where will this child go? Just how will reality shape him? Will he break and succumb to +despair, or regrow into an even more resilient, mature human? As the mother cries in joy, his little +neurons start to fire little sparks of data that resonate all across his brain from hemisphere to +hemisphere. And they do so very quickly. With a sheer speed of 100 meters per second. His brain has +millions if not billions of connections! That is not a super computer. That is a human. + +Before his parents know it, he is already learning his first ABCs and doing basic mathematics. A few +years pass, and he starts developing new emotions. More years pass and he is capable of deep abstract +thought. Curiosity and questions are like fuel and oxygen. Waiting for the little spark to complete the +job and burst into a violent reaction of fire. For knowledge. A new experiment proves to be as exciting +as a new question. Forcing the child to push the limits of his brain and make connections based on his +experience, or lack thereof. + +This is how I like to describe hackers. We lack hackers. Passionate people. People that will pass +knowledge down the generations with real excitement. And you cannot imagine THE BEST of such +people until you see them in action. If you scout through the internet carefully, you might notice them. +Here are some that I cannot help myself but to share. For they have deeply impacted my thinking: + + - [John D. Boswell](https://www.youtube.com/@melodysheep) + - [Richard Feynman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ww1IXRfTA) + - [Cliff Stoll](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt0844ViQDI) + - [Tom Scott](https://www.youtube.com/@TomScottGo) + - [Richard Stallman](https://www.gnu.org/) + - [Khan Academy](https://www.khanacademy.org/) + + “Hackers”. I am not referring to cyber security specialists, consultants, or attackers, although they do +constitute a big portion of individuals with such a mentality. I am referring to people that wonder and +explore. What hackers used to be defined as before media acted out with its usual "drama, drama, +drama.. drama" move and pictured us as "the bad guys". The bad guys are not hackers. They are +criminals. End of the story. + +Why do we lack them? Because people are not flawless. We make mistakes, even when we think we +are doing the right thing. A statement kills curiosity. It closes your options and puts you on a single +track. Some parents do that. Some teachers do that. Which can have profound effects on the child. +Children need questions. They are born to be curious. If the environment models them to be silent, shut +up, and not question about the system or statement in question, how will they ever familiarize +themselves with it? That is why extreme patience is needed when introducing somebody to a topic. +Especially children. + +Is there a way out of such closed thinking? Perhaps. For me it was FOSS (Free and Open-Source +Software). I no longer am tied to a proprietary system that I detest. I am free to use my computer +however I like. Which pushes me to understand my own system better and in more depth. It enables me +to think in new ways and make my computer do funny things. Even if impractical, it still is.. fun. The +reason behind it also lies in data protection and privacy. But that is another discussion. For you, the +entry point might also reside in FOSS, or maybe mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, etcetera. At +the end of the day, all major subjects are fundamentally interlinked. Curiosity will push you outside of +your own field if you just let it do so. That is when you will realize that every subject has a profound +meaning and beauty. + +The greatest twist will come when you discover something new on your own that is interlinked with +what you know you LOVE doing. But that resides inside a completely different field that you +remember hating because of a past experience - like school. + + +This is what I learned in my concluding years of adolescence. +I now like to think optimistically about the coming generations. +Let's take care and be welcoming of our future pioneers. +Let’s respect the work of the ones who came before us. +They are after all, the reason why we are here. + + Kevin