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Comment by giantsloth | Hacker News Reader

I find statements like this both cringe and problematic. The heavy emphasis on industry defined identity is creepy, extremely impersonal, and backwards.

I've been a software developer in advertising, various startups and have friends in fashion and finance. While sure you can get some interesting insights into their industries, for example Gucci's new operating room spread is dope af, or the fact that hedge funds year over year make 20% on average using their "genius quants" (aka insider trading), I find that the actual people themselves are a relatively homogenous subculture across industries. That is a typically upper middle class white with a BS/BA in econ/finance/cs/communications who got "really drunk" in college, "loves" IPAs now and does sober February's as a challenge.

These are all various shades of yuppie identity non-diverse in thought, culture, or world perspective. They are boring.

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> > The best part about tech in NYC is that it isn't a non-stop, in-your-face bubble the way that it is in SF/SJ

> I find statements like this both cringe and problematic.

I think the 1st sentence of the 1st comment is amusingly and inadvertently supported by the 2nd.

These are all various shades of yuppie identity non-diverse in thought, culture, or world perspective. They are boring.

You're painting with a pretty broad brush there, yourself.

The diversity of thought and culture in the NYC area is breathtaking. It takes a lot of effort to navigate it at times, but it's definitely there. Hundreds of years worth. It used to be that the North East of the US kinda was the US. Half of the soldiers who went to fight in Europe in WWI were from New York state alone.

A big part of US history of the 20th century has been the demographic, economic, and cultural shift away from the North East to the West and South. As a part of this, it's only natural that a new intelligentsia would arise on the West Coast and pooh-pooh the North East. It's a very common historical pattern. However, when it comes down to it, people living, thinking, and working in close proximity will create cultural value. To denigrate this is to throw out the baby with the bathwater if you are a humanist, or a progressive.

I've always thought the stereotype was that of the metropolitan North East pooh-pooh-ing the West, e.g. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MaCXa3ZSH8

the metropolitan North East pooh-pooh-ing the West

That's the other side of the historical pattern. It also happened between Europe and the "New World."

My Louisiana Creole girlfriend (at the time) and I showed up for a concert with Joanna Newsom and Phillip Glass. Let me assure you that there are older West Coast elites who can wonder aloud about you and look down their nose at you just as much as Mainline and old New England preppies. (Basically the fans of Phillip Glass wondering about the Joanna Newsom fandom hoi polloi.)

Your “genius quants (aka insider trading)” quote is an easy target, but instead I’m going to respond to this:

> That is a typically upper middle class white with a BS/BA in econ/finance/cs/communications who got "really drunk" in college, "loves" IPAs now and does sober February's as a challenge.

These are all various shades of yuppie identity non-diverse in thought, culture, or world perspective. They are boring.

Speaking as someone who is a software engineer in NY, your broad generalization has not been my experience, nor does it apply to me. Moreover, I consider it pretty dismissive to reduce such a wide swath of people to the stereotypical yuppie. According to you, software engineers are homogenous and boring.

If you really can’t find more diversity in the conversations you’re having, I strongly encourage you to seek out more diverse people. To put this politely: the lack of self awareness you’re evidencing in this comment borders on hubris.

You're missing the point. He meant that the differences you see (what you call diversity) are superficial differences. When you look deeper past these differences (job, skin color, neighborhood, etc) you find that people in NY, professionals at least, are actually very similar.

I don't agree 100% with this sentiment, but I doubt the OP does either.

What I agree with is that "diverse" has become a stupid word. Diverse is used nowadays to indicate only superficial differences. If you see a black man, a lesbian, a asian woman, and a hispanic girl together in the same office, you have diversity. Yet they're all in the same office, have the same standard of education, are just about the same age, probably have the same political affiliations, grew up in roughly the same geographic area, etc. Is it really diverse?

Culturally, not so much. But NY is not so different from any other place. People near each other tend to be similar. I just wish we would stop regurgitating the word "diverse."

If you're not experiencing variety of culture and thought in New York City then, frankly, you're doing something very wrong.

The OP's statement wasn't limited to software developers, who I agree still tend to be a relatively homogenous group even in NYC. But you really ought to stop outside your professional circle once in a while. If you go to a bar in SV it's nothing but people in tech, talking about tech. If you go to a bar in NYC you don't see it anywhere near as much.

Hey that's not true.

There's plenty of upper middle class Asians too.

There are infinite subcultures in NYC. I'm as misanthropic as the next guy so I identify with what you said a little, but honestly no matter what you're into you can find your people here. Probably more than anywhere else in the world, actually.

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