Hack: "a project undertaken or a product build not solely to fulfill some constructive goal, but with some wild pleasure taken in mere involvement" -- Steven Levy
According to Steven Levy in Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, this was the initial definition of a "hack". The term originates from ancient MIT lingo that became popularized in the 1960s with the early beginnings of computing. True hackers of this time had an "innocent, productive, creative impluse" that led them to want to understand the behind the scenes view of everything, specifically computer programming (Levy 40).
The term "hacker" today to me has become somewhat negatively viewed, and when I recently asked friends what they thought of the term, they all replied similarly. Some discussed security issues and "bad guys", and another simply said, "hacking would be, like, if like someone logged into my computer and stole my infromation, right?" Wrong, I told her, but how could I elaborate on this?
After reading Levy's first part of his book on "True Hackers", I feel that I can discuss what it means to be a true hacker a bit more, and maybe even have more of an understanding myself of whether or not I'd want to be a true hacker.
Levy speaks of the early "hackers" at MIT and how they felt toward school work and other "basic necessities" like using the bathroom and eating meals-- they overall felt their time was better spent sitting at the console. That was where true learning happened for them. This idea of hands-on learning contributed to their "Hacker Ethic", a silently agreed upon list of guidelines to being part of the hacker community. The first of these was to always yeild to the Hands-On Imperative, to which I agree that learning comes most from hands-on engagement. I disagree a bit in their methods of carrying out this motto, as they would often engage in activities that many would classify as stealing. I also disagree a bit with this in the idea that the Hands-On Imperative could apply to any system in our lives. Levy's example of this was that if red lights and other traffic systems seem inefficient to an individual, they should be able to "open up traffic light control boxes" and "redesign the entire system" (Levy 33). In my opinion this could lead to chaos, but in the realm of learning the workings of computer programming, I think it definitely applies.
Levy also discusses the idea of an intersection between the person and the computer in the hacking community. He illustrates this, saying how, "when you had all the information lued to your cerebral being, it was almost as if your own mind had merged into the environment of the computer" (Levy 30). The hackers at MIT spent so much time learning about and discussing programming that they not only spoke their own niche jargon about it all but they seemed to feel like it was the reason for their being. I think this is quite extreme and leads me to think I would not align well with how the hacker ethic materializes in everyday actions. Levy goes on to describe how hackers mindsets to programming overflowed into their daily interactions with people as well, explaining how an early MIT programmer Bob Saunders later got in a fight with his wife, Marge, over declaring that he would not like to help bring in the groceries. He later explained to her that, of course he would not like to help bring them in, but the question of would he be willing to help bring them in was not the one asked. Levy describes that, "It was not until [Marge] debugged her question that Bob Saunders would allow it to run successfully on his own mental computer" (Levy 31). This dedication to a logic based mindset outside of the computer lab, while comical, actually makes more sense to me as a way to incorporate computer programming lessons into everyday life. I find often that I can think of ways to optimize daily tasks, or as the MIT students would say, ways to do "program bumming" to my daily life.
From just the few examples I have laid out, you can see how what it means to be a hacker is often taken to extremes, and while I feel like I would not fit in completely well to those extremes, I do feel that I align with the general principles that drives the hackers to get up each day and do what they do best: they are unapologetically curious and empowered not by grades or paychecks but by a feeling of understanding and accomplishment. I strive for that and would be proud to say that I align with those aspects of the hacker persona.
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