Biography of Terry Davis' Life (Author of TempleOS)

Biography of Terry Davis' Life (Author of TempleOS)(256kilobytes.com)

54 points by hallucinate 7 years ago

memset 7 years ago |

I am not sure this merits being on the front page of HN. The majority of the content here describes, in lurid detail, the many hardships and controversies of a man who was obviously unwell. There is no redeeming value to this blow-by-blow of his online posts, no matter how incindiery. It reads like a tabloid.

Let him rest in peace. Mods, let's place something more productive on the front page.

lettergram 7 years ago | |

To some extent I think it does.

Although yes, much of it reads like a tabloid. It's the closest thing most people will have as an interaction with this guy.

I think it'd be more useful to highlight the symptoms of mental illness and how the community (to a large extent) encouraged him to become _worse_. I also found the article interesting as it did cover the saga of TempleOS, which pretty much everyone agrees is a technical solo achievement

ratsmack 7 years ago | | |

It read like a cheesy timeline with minimal information in many places. I'm sure the creator just tried to compile information derived from the internet rather than create a more personal and publish worthy exposé.

Personally, I found it interesting.

viraptor 7 years ago | |

https://thenewstack.io/the-troubled-legacy-of-terry-davis-go...

This seems much better. Submitted instead at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18996057

lettergram 7 years ago |

Rather than discussing some of Terry Davis' more unfortunate statements... he was clearly sick, brilliant, and like many of us somewhere in between.

I personally feel for the guy as I know people (and family members) with schizophrenia. Managing the symptoms is all you can do, and just about the worst thing that can happen is constant encouragement to the fantasy, which is what happened.

As a community we are more prone to both accepting and also aiding people with mental health issues, without assisting them or addressing the issue. I think this post highlights this, much of what Terry said was very jarring (it was to me), but at the same time having understanding goes a long way. Guiding them towards a better, perhaps better choice (getting help vs drugs)

Anyway, I find the story of Terry Davis a sad one. Brilliant, but troubled. It can happen to literally anyone reading this, so try to remember to treat others how you'd like to be treated.

For reference: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/i...

tptacek 7 years ago |

This is gross.

haasted 7 years ago | |

In what way?

viraptor 7 years ago | | |

The detailed account of what messed up thing he said when is a terrible way to write about someone. It takes disproportionate amount of space compared to the relevant information. It's closer to mental issues gallery than a biography.

If someone's interested in what's been said, it's still there on the internet. For a biography "suffered mental issues which caused many hostile interactions online" is enough and more kind.

packetized 7 years ago | | |

This whole post smacks of a half-hearted attempt to memorialize Terry, while slyly smearing him.

n.b. I am not defending Terry’s outlook nor besmirching his efforts, simply calling out this post as a not great eulogy.

mrcsparker 7 years ago |

I browsed HN [dead] comments to see Terry’s comments. Sometimes, in between the random quotes and other things, he would write something brilliant.

incadenza 7 years ago | |

I’ve known other schizophrenic people who do seem to have brief periods of lucidity. Sometimes on and off throughout a day. Really sad.

DanFeldman 7 years ago | |

Is there a link to his profile/are his posts browse-able?

hallucinate 7 years ago | | |

Not his old posts, but if you're at all interested in seeing his old streams circa 2015/2016, there's an ongoing live stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iyknwjYbRE

raverbashing 7 years ago |

And here we once more have the old story on genius and mental disease going together.

While it is sad that someone like him didn't get the appropriate treatment (or even if current ones would have worked for him), we might have never heard of his genius or it might have been hidden in a satellite attitude control algorithm somewhere.

adamnemecek 7 years ago |

Good night sweet prince.