Vagaries

[dave <dave () immunityinc com>]

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So there's an uneasy analogy between hacking and addiction. If you've had a friend
who was an addict, you probably recognize some basic symptoms:

1. Excuses. "It's my birthday", "Just this once", "But this is really good stuff", etc.

2. Downward spiral as long as there are no consequences (in hacking this downward
spiral is towards kernel.org, no?)

3. Failure of any treatment that doesn't have a "higher power"

Or, as the West Wing puts it:

    Leo: I'm an alcoholic. I don't have one drink. [pauses] I don't understand people
who have one drink. I don't understand people who leave half a glass of wine on the
table. I don't understand people who say they've had enough. How can you have enough
of feeling like this? How can you not want to feel like this longer? [pauses, sighs]
My brain works differently.
    ...
    Jordan: I don't understand how you could have a drink. I don't understand how,
after everything you worked for, how on that day of all days you could be so stupid.
    Leo: That's because you think it has something to do with smart and stupid. Do
you have any idea how many alcoholics are in Mensa? You think it's a lack of
willpower? That's like thinking somebody with anorexia nervosa has an overdeveloped
sense of vanity. My father was an alcoholic. His father was an alcoholic. So, in my
case...
    Jordan: [nods] Ain't nothin' but a family thing.


My point is this: Once you've been a hacker once, you're always a hacker. It's worth
thinking about how this affects your life going forward. :>

- -dave
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