
Modern Non-Conformity and Contarianism in the Age of Silicon Valley - jamesg_oca
https://jamesgallagher.app/non-conformity/
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nonconformist27
This article reads like a rebelious rant of a teenager not wanting to go to
school. Yes one can be happy living like a stoic (see main page) in the woods
on minimal food and water. Or practicing zen. And this is a valid choice for
many.

But the fact is that besides repeating dozens of times how "non conforming"
the author is nothing much more meaningful is provided here.

~~~
NowThenGoodBad
It strikes me that either you legitimately can't relate but might think you
can, or you aren't empathizing with the author (nothing wrong with that,
sometimes we legitimately can't put ourself in their "shoes"), or you may
possibly be unintentionally gatekeeping nonconformity. None of that is meant
as an offense to you but just the 3 impressions I get from your comment after
reading the article.

James provides many meaningful thoughts, and even gave a disclaimer that this
is something he's still thinking through more.

One of those meaningful thoughts I felt was particularly provocative was this:

> I also learned that being a successful non-conformist is easier when you
> have security.

It's easy for the rich kid from a well-connected family to be a nonconformist
and still succeed at what they hope to do in life. Take a poor kid, who is
also well-connected but not necessarily to those comparable to the rich kid.
Poor kid might have a lot of social capital among their community such that
they can get things done, but compare that to rich kid who can always fall
back on a family friend hiring them for a junior management position where
they'll get paid orders of magnitude more than the poor kid... Now imagine
that poor kid with low to no security being a nonconformist.

For them, that could go one of two ways:

1\. Ostracized from community for going against the grain/not getting in line

2\. They get lucky and some aspect of nonconformity brings them great success
and even wealth

Which of those two do you think happens more frequently?

So, I politely disagree. While it does seem that he's sharing some raw
thoughts, there are some good clear items in there to think about.

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eecsninja
Good article but why does the HN title include"silicon valley"?

The article doesn't include SV in its actual title, and mentions SV only
twice.

Not to mention that the old SV model is mostly dead, and the new SV is highly
corporate and rewards conformity.

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PaulHoule
Better article than the title would suggest.

