zlacker

> "[dang] later told me that he sees frustration at work as part of the DNA of Hacker News. “The instinct that there simply has to be a better way to build systems, and the yearning to connect with it,” he said. “If you can’t do that at your job, and few can, then you can at least dream and read and argue about it on the Internet. Hacker News is the inverse image of many people’s jobs, overlaid on top of each other—an escape valve for frustrated idealists.”

^ My favorite line in the whole piece. It resonates.

>>chrisw+(OP)
The phrase inverse image means something specific in mathematics, so I'm getting confused trying to connect that meaning with dang's quote—like, what is the function?

>>ductta+xb
I think "photo-negative" might be another analogy for this that does not trigger attempts to search for this meaning.

So might "boolean NOT", to maybe be a bit more programmerly.

>>ductta+xb
I think the mathematical term "complement" might be more in line with the intended meaning.

>>chrisw+(OP)
Can it be more than an escape valve?

What kind of patterns can channel or harness all that escaping energy?

Also feels like there are too many escape valves on the internet and too few patterns to harness all the potential energy.

>>ductta+xb
Figure and ground.