Are you a charlatan, martyr, or hustler? A geometrical illustration | Hacker News Reader

Are you a charlatan, martyr, or hustler? A geometrical illustration

joeyroth.com

40 pointslionhearted11 comments

Shouldn't that be "geometrical" instead of "geographical"?

Well, that's an embarrassing typo... it's past the editing window. If a mod sees it and cares to fix, that'd be good. If not, I suppose I'll have to live with the shame forever.

The word "hustler" really rubs me the wrong way. The literal definition is someone who deceives others to get their money. I know that's not the intended meaning here of course, but every time I hear it I immediately visualize a card game swindler on the street.

Aye, perhaps the intended effect! Isn't that perhaps the same unease that permeates the martyr mindset? "I'm not going to sell out and make tons of noise on Twitter. If they like it, they will come!" Surely to the martyr, the noisemakers are hustlers in the bad sense. Hence the silence.

Yup - Three-card Monte comes to mind when people talk about being a hustler, but I suppose it's better than being a charlatan or a martyr.

I like it because it describes someone who knows how to sell and convince, but also has a lot of skill to back it up (pool hustler for example).

This kind of reminds me of the Fear - Love spectrum in Donnie Darko. I don't want to be a charlatan, martyr, or hustler. The world really isn't that simple. And if you want to know where you can put your spectrum, see the movie and find out.

I think it's interesting that the author saw charlatan as a male ("His structure.."), martyr as a female ("her time..."), and left hustler's gender unspecified ("his or her").

Credit to "nedwin" for sharing this in the other thread -

> So true. I have this print framed above my desk at work:

> http://joeyroth.com/charlatan-martyr-hustler/

A really good quick way to grok a tricky concept.

The full context from the other thread (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2185100)

dmg8

> The problem with hiring a hustler with a "knack for getting money" is that

> you might be the one he ends up hustling.

hustlebear-judd

> The problem with the word hustle is that it has a few very different connotations.

> Those who go far have moved beyond street hustling.

nedwin

> So true. I have this print framed above my desk at work:

> http://joeyroth.com/charlatan-martyr-hustler/

Impressive thoughts!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com