I spent five years working in various discount supermarkets as a cashier. The average person there is struggling with challenges that make typical hacker problems look trivial.
- They either have very unfulfilling jobs, or none at all
- Many people they meet pre-judge them as weak or stupid because they're poor
- The community that does support them also holds them back, by criticizing attempts to get ahead and condoning self-destructive behavior
- They have no safety net for when they screw up. Failures like a marriage breakup or losing a job have massive and immediate impacts on their lives
- On top of all this, they're often raising kids in the same environment, desperately hoping they can escape
Don't take too much comfort that we're 'outliers and exemplars of thought', actions and attitudes that we regard as obviously stupid have a strong internal logic in their world. Religious fundamentalism is a joke? I agree, but for a woman who's had a family devastated by marriage breakups and substance abuse, its tenets are pretty damn attractive. Smoking or overeating? If the rest of your life is unfulfilling, at least you can be guaranteed a little pleasure in your day.