Stats for nerds
1recommend
3mentions
2people
2020–2022years
67% recommend33% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- 20th century libertinism peaked in the 70s and has been in retreat since then.
This is certainly true, but it is also not the only source of the problems outlined in the essay (and by others in this discussion). It's this:
Stanford’s new social order offers a peek into the bureaucrat’s vision for America. It is a world without risk, genuine difference, or the kind of group connection that makes teenage boys want to rent bulldozers and build islands. It is a world largely without unencumbered joy; without the kind of cultural specificity that makes college, or the rest of life, particularly interesting.
And this isn't just university life. Read Matthew Crawford's The World Beyond Your Head and Why We Drive to get a sense of the ways that safety-ism is the new American way. As humans, we develop cognitively and emotionally when we are placed in risky situations (whether emotionally or physically). Perhaps it's college kids doing dumb things, or perhaps it's kids building bike jumps in the local park or homemade zip lines in the local park.
- Take a look at Matthew Crawford's latest book, Why We Drive, for a deeper dive into the "hacker" side of the automotive world.
- "Humans develop tools that assist in locomotion, such as domesticated horses and carriages and bicycles and cars—and then extend their awareness to those tools. The driver “becomes one” with the machine, as we say. In his 2020 book, Why We Drive, Crawford argues that a device becomes a prosthetic. The rider fuses with the horse. To move the tool is to move the self. Crawford argues that this cognitive enhancement is possible only when you can interpret the components of the tool you’re operating."
Very interesting theory: the importance of being able to interpret the components. Yeah I love stick shifts. Sometimes I regret getting it (because it's not a sports car or anything). But I think, for one, having something extra to with my body frees my mind to roam while I drive.
