[HN Gopher] I quit my programmer job to become a chicken
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I quit my programmer job to become a chicken
Author : satvikpendem
Score : 297 points
Date : 2022-11-19 19:37 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (sebastiancarlos.medium.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (sebastiancarlos.medium.com)
| jesse__ wrote:
| 10/10 bwok cluckity cluck cluck
| lewq wrote:
| This is the kind of high quality technical content I come here
| for.
| satvikpendem wrote:
| I wonder if this is a parody of all those comments/articles about
| quitting programming to go into carpentry, or woodworking, or
| farming, etc.
|
| I no longer build software -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24541964
|
| Why software engineers like woodworking -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31687378
|
| Death of a Programmer, Life of a Farmer -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9492110
|
| ---
|
| The author also has some other hilarious articles:
|
| - How to get over your Impostor Syndrome and become a
| Professional Fraudster
|
| - Programmers, Please Stop Referring to your Significant Others
| as "Sugar Babies," You are Not That Rich (Also, They are Not That
| Hot)
|
| - How to Reassert Dominance in the Zoom Era as a Tech Bro
|
| - Book Review: 95 JavaScript Theses - I've been reading a lot of
| JavaScript books lately, and I have to say that "95 JavaScript
| Theses" is the best thing since the Protestant reformation.
| indigodaddy wrote:
| And this video of his is also quite funny
|
| https://youtu.be/8Gi3MLBLMUE
| tharkun__ wrote:
| At least he only quit to become a chicken. Better that than to
| become a pig!
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chicken_and_the_Pig
| layer8 wrote:
| Git should have been called pig, because they commit.
| aussiesnack wrote:
| Most slave-labouring humans aren't much more than pigs in the
| fable's sense.
| jl6 wrote:
| Just another wage-slave burnt out programmer casting off the
| yolk of bondage.
| [deleted]
| schappim wrote:
| This clickchickbait article fails to answer the question on why
| the programmer crossed the road to become a chicken, and whether
| they went from programmer - egg - chicken, or just programmer -
| chicken.
| 411111111111111 wrote:
| I think he addressed it right in this excerpt!
|
| > _Cluckity cluck Cluck-cluck-cluck Bwak pukaaak Bwak Cluck.
| Cluck-a-buh-gawk Bwak Waaak Bok Waaak Cluck-cluck-cluck.
| Cluckity Cock-a-doodle-doo!_
| schappim wrote:
| GPT-3 says otherwise: https://files.littlebird.com.au/Shared-
| Image-2022-11-20-08-0...
| deathanatos wrote:
| Your comment had me wondering how you did the strikethrough,
| since HN doesn't support it. U+0336 "Combining Long Stroke
| Overlay", clever.
|
| I really did not expect to learn anything here, of all places.
| layer8 wrote:
| How many roads must a programmer cross down before you can call
| them a chicken?
| jordemort wrote:
| Bu-gawk cluck cluck. Bawk bawk cluck bawk!
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| So is he ending an incredible journey or starting one?
| Yoofie wrote:
| Reminds me of this great HN thread [1]
|
| [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5326511
| sonabinu wrote:
| In the spirit of the times, it's prudent to ask whether Galactica
| had something to do with this? Was Galactica on the peer review
| committee?
| gorbachev wrote:
| "bwok bwok, pukaak!" to you, too!
| 29athrowaway wrote:
| The chicken assembly language is great.
| xrd wrote:
| Is this because AI has destroyed all the software jobs? Is it
| really more lucrative to become a factory farmed chicken these
| days? I'm worried.
| st_goliath wrote:
| This is from the same guy who wrote the absolutely wonderful NAND
| gate article[1] that also featured on HN about a year ago (and
| was taken surprisingly serious) [2].
|
| [1] https://sebastiancarlos.medium.com/the-nand-gate-one-gate-
| to...
|
| [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28756727
| svnt wrote:
| It's fascinating because it (inadvertently, maybe) shows that
| you can't do satire without understanding the topic. The author
| seemingly set off to make fun of digital something, couldn't
| grok it, and settled for documenting an afternoon sort of
| trying.
|
| The nerds missed the joke and jumped in wanting to help,
| marking one of the first times I've seen this dynamic play out
| at this level of engagement in web space, although it happens
| all the time irl.
|
| The author even comments he was trying to capture the "saudade"
| of trying to understand something using web sources.
| charles_f wrote:
| Learning how to speak chicken is not becoming a chicken. That's a
| frequent misconception that borders cultural appropriation.
| Chickens aren't just about a few bock-bock and cockle-doodle-
| doos. They have a rich set of physical expressions as well (flap
| flaps, head kicks, grating the soil, etc) and a vibrant culture
| that is transmitted between generations. Their philosophy on
| death and their capacity to always see life on the sunny-side is
| both unique and deep, the fruit of seeing their children being
| picked for food on a daily basis. This should be celebrated. The
| article completely missed the point on that aspect.
|
| Pretending you became a chicken because you're now performing a
| few chicken-like sounds is plain wrong, an insult to the poultry
| community.
| dgfitz wrote:
| "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken" -
| Chuck
| ysavir wrote:
| I can't tell if you're actually quoting the show Chuck or
| just summarizing charles_f's comment and attributing it to
| "Chuck", which is a nickname for Charles.
| charles_f wrote:
| A more appropriate way of putting was
|
| "chucking up feathers up your cloaca doesn't make you a
| chicken"
| datalopers wrote:
| It's a quote from the book, Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk.
| officialchicken wrote:
| You are absolutely correct about the nuance, but I disagree
| with this 'no true chickenman' argument. We all started
| somewhere below expert-level.
| bjornsing wrote:
| Yea, this is chickenwashing.
| inglor_cz wrote:
| On the other hand, the first programmer identifying as a
| chicken occupies a truly unique niche in the DIE ecosystem ...
|
| Of course, within mere weeks, more and more are going to start
| flocking to interviews.
| beardyw wrote:
| > identifying as a chicken
|
| Just woke nonsense. If you didn't hatch out of an egg you are
| not a chicken - end of!
| hsbauauvhabzb wrote:
| I don't think anyone was implying that at a literal level,
| no need to get triggered.
| Volundr wrote:
| I think GP was understood the joke as was continuing the
| parody... Buy with all the people having conniptions
| about "litter boxes in schools" it's honestly hard to
| tell.
| charles_f wrote:
| You need to prime the cycle somewhere though, i.e. Either
| someone started identifying as a chicken and laying eggs,
| or someone started identifying as an egg and transformed
| into a chicken, but scientifically they couldn't appear
| from pure void
| 8note wrote:
| > life on the sunny side
|
| Yeesh
| Joeboy wrote:
| See also[0]
|
| [0] https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-
| introduc...
| echelon wrote:
| This is my favorite post on HN in ages. I needed the light humor.
| nativecoinc wrote:
| I'm happy that the author was able to become a chicken. I am!
| However, I think he is a bit brazen with regards to this attitude
| of his:
|
| > Bwok bwok bwok, puk puk pukaaak! Cluckity cluck cluck, puk puk
| pukaaak! Bwwwaaaaaaaaaak!
|
| I know many engineers who would love to become chickens. But they
| also have responsibilities. They can't just drop everything and
| commit to the faunamorphosis. Not to mention that faunamorphosis
| costs so much that pretty much only FAANG salaried folks can go
| through with their chicken dream -- and especially now in this
| economy.
| inglor_cz wrote:
| On a similar note.
|
| "It's not a question of wanting to be a mouse -- it just sort
| of happens to you... All of a sudden you realize... that's what
| you want to be."
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mouse_Problem
|
| Of course, becoming a mouse is ambiguous in the programming
| world. If you want to become a mouse, please specify the
| correct namespace first.
|
| Becoming a chicken is much easier. It just autoloads without
| any extra specification.
| tromp wrote:
| I'm surprised the code is not written in Chicken [1].
|
| [1]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_(Scheme_implementation...
| Apocryphon wrote:
| Or in Braincluck
| forgotmypw17 wrote:
| https://archive.ph/Hmpd5
| codingdave wrote:
| In all seriousness, part of me wants to replace all coding
| questions in future interviews with the code from this article.
| It isn't hard to follow, it just looks absurd. So if people can
| follow it, they can code -- No more FizzBuzz - just
| CluckCluckity.
| naet wrote:
| I was just feeling down as I completed a 3 hour code screen where
| I was supposed to be recording my screen the whole time I worked,
| but somehow I botched it and don't have any recording to show.
| Awkward and my own fault...
|
| Those chicken diagrams got a legitimate smile and chuckle out of
| me though. Thanks for the day brightener!!
|
| Reminded me a bit of this "Microservices" youtube sketch which
| also includes a surreal architecture diagram (and is very funny):
|
| https://youtu.be/y8OnoxKotPQ
| giantdude wrote:
| I expected chicken scheme
| lloydatkinson wrote:
| This feels like my brain after a week of agile/scrum/bullshit
| meetings and processes that get in the way of creating software.
| Takes the weekend to go return to normal.
| eloathing wrote:
| Just a reminder that classic joke:
|
| "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
|
| "To get to the other side!"
|
| Is not just a stupid anti-joke about crossing the road, it is a
| dark joke about a chicken going to the other side of life
| (death).
| happyopossum wrote:
| That's likely ret-conning the joke - first, the earliest
| references (mid 1800s) say "to get on the other side" which
| doesn't track to the dark interpretation as well.
|
| Also, in the mid 1800s, crossing a road wouldn't pose any
| danger to a chicken. A railroad track - yes, a factory floor -
| sure, but a road? Used mostly for foot or carriage traffic? No
| danger whatsoever - a chicken can move more than fast enough to
| get out of the way of even a quickly driven carriage.
|
| Third, and most importantly, it was a common minstrel show
| line, and minstrel shows were filled with anti-humor.
|
| Sometimes the easiest and most obvious answer is actually the
| right one.
| loquisgon wrote:
| So funny! Thanks you made my day LOL hard!
| technologia wrote:
| I had to chuckle given the detail of the article such as it is.
| Traubenfuchs wrote:
| If you are interested in chicken to this degree your theme song
| is.
|
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=unW7UYXSQNY
| sph wrote:
| I'm tipsy and that was quite the trip. Not sure how I've never
| heard this before. Now it's gonna be stuck in my head for days.
| whirlwin wrote:
| Also https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=msSc7Mv0QHY
| mrlonglong wrote:
| I was thinking of this one: https://youtu.be/kvKazPkRVjQ
| ericpruitt wrote:
| I was expecting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msSc7Mv0QHY.
| blowski wrote:
| Cluckbait.
| vletal wrote:
| Did that chicken got recently laid off from Twitter?
| citilife wrote:
| Feel like this could have been gpt3 lol pretty funny.
| [deleted]
| lozenge wrote:
| Bok bok cluckity SQUAAK
| jdeaton wrote:
| Tastefully postmodern
| worldsayshi wrote:
| I wonder what the post-postmodern take on this would look like.
| jesse__ wrote:
| An actual chicken would write it
| snoot wrote:
| Pkark?
| nanomonkey wrote:
| I'm going to suggest that polyglot literate programming would
| be the most metamodern (another term for post-postmodern)
| take, with humor and self criticizing progress journaling
| thrown in.
| sph wrote:
| "How I went from being a chicken to selling my own company
| (YC 2023) in 6 months."
| orhmeh09 wrote:
| This is the first article I've clicked before going right to
| comments in months
| teraflop wrote:
| For those who would like a slightly more technical overview of
| this subject, I can recommend this research paper:
| https://isotropic.org/papers/chicken.pdf
| piperswe wrote:
| I forgot about chicken.pdf... it's great to print to a buddy's
| networked printer as a prank
| yojo wrote:
| It looks like TFA uses some diagrams from that pdf without
| attribution. I get that we're firmly in the realm of absurdity,
| but it still feels... cheep
| kamilm wrote:
| For those who prefer the video format:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk
| hprotagonist wrote:
| Presentation and slides:
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk
| JamesCoyne wrote:
| Yeah, the paper provides good insight into the phenomenon. Doug
| also gives a really good presentation on the same material:
| https://youtu.be/yL_-1d9OSdk
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(page generated 2022-11-19 23:00 UTC)