Non-technical people – what brings you to HN?

Question

I'm in grad school studying to be a Speech-Language Pathologist. Never written a line of code in my life. But I'm on HN because I am interested in a lot of the things you guys are talking about - especially natural language processing, speech recognition, augmented reality/MR, and bioethics related to technology. A big emerging area in my field is in using AAC (Augmented and Alternative Communication) technology to help those with disabilities communicate. There is a ton of opportunity for innovation in that area, and reading HN gives me great ideas and inspiration.Just curious how many people are out there lurking for similar reasons as me - trying to apply cool new ideas in tech to innovate in other fields.

paulcole · Accepted Answer

I sometimes find the articles and links shared here interesting.
But the most interesting thing to me is the cognitive dissonance, ego, obstinacy, and single-mindedness of the discussions.
If you question the idea that this place is anything but some kind of algonquin round table for the techno-elite then you’ll get a stern rebuke from the moderators. The reality is that HN is exceptionally good content marketing for a VC company.
It’s just as funny to me as browsing /r/SubredditDrama or any other hobby forum.

sadsandwich · Answer

I'm a graphic designer but started tinkering in Unity about three or four years ago after work as a hobby, and am currently working my way through Watch and Code to learn the basics of Javascript.In general I find HN to have more interesting articles and a higher quality of discussion than other news aggregators (such as Reddit, which I also frequent).

SSGN · Answer

I'm a Project Manager & Operations Responsible at a Healthcare SME in Switzerland. My technical abilities are limited to Python & Swift (Amateur, Self-taught).
I browse HN daily for the interesting articles and comments. For the total disconnect it has with politics & non-helpful BS.
I use it to always have one foot inside the pool of technology development.
It's the only place where you never know what you'll learn next.

rramadass · Answer

I really wish more people from "non-computer related" technical fields would contribute more here. It doesn't matter what; i see HN as a "curiosity-feeding" platform. Also it doesn't have to be the "Hard" Sciences; "Soft" sciences like Social Behaviour, Psychological insight etc. would also be welcomed. The domain knowledge coupled to solving problems in those domains (with/without aid of Computing) is what i would really like to read/understand more.

meowster · Answer

Smart and intelligent people, interesting and insightful articles and discussions.Maybe only half of the articles and comments I read here are tech-related.

markus_zhang · Answer

BG: BA but also does data modeling and some scripting, overall non-technical.The need to pursue a more technical career path brought me here. I'm 15-18 years away from a planned semi-retirement and my financial is good so far, so I don't care about "Fuck you" money and the business part of HN bores me. What is really intresting to me are topics that go deep into a programming topic e.g. compiler design.