Ask HN: Do you have stories about Luddite authority overreaction?

2 points·classicsnoot··4 comments

I write for my University newspaper and i am doing a piece on Ahmed Mohamed and Zero Tolerance culture. I'd like to have some stories from people who dealt with the same flavor of silliness and went on to work in tech OR had their growth stymied.

I write for The Observer @ Rutgers Newark.

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I don't think that "Luddite" is an accurate term to use here. Wikipedia defines a Luddite (in the modern-day sense) to be:

"one opposed to industrialisation, automation, computerisation or new technologies in general"[1]

I doubt that the people who arrested Ahmed Mohamed consider digital clocks (which have been around since the 1970s) to be some kind of threatening new technology. They're just too dumb to recognize the difference between a clock and a bomb.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite#In_modern_thought

fair point.

> I'd like to have some stories from people who dealt with the same flavor of silliness and went on to work in tech OR had their growth stymied.

How much are you willing to pay for content?

adorbs

it is an independent newspaper. i dont get paid or have a budget. i have a number of stories all ready, but they are centered more around sexually natured offenses. i thought it would be more colorful to hear from the tech side.

but seriously, your greed astounds me.

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