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Comment by rank0 | Hacker News Reader

I generally like this dude and his antics…but becoming dependent on opiates as an “experiment” is the stupidest shit I’ve ever read.

It sounds like he wanted some adversity to overcome and couldn’t find any so he manufactured his own. Hopefully George understands that premeditated physical opioid dependence is not the same kind of struggle which addicts face. The homeless dudes shooting smack under a bridge have terrible lives. George is a software genius with loads of money and opportunity at his disposal.

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I have a suspicion that was just a rationalization for his curiosity. There are many people who become addicted because they wanted to experiment and don’t understand what they’re getting into.

i think this is rationalization on his part, he probably got addicted for whatever reason, stress, anxiety, ability to work longer hours and not get bored (yes opiates can do this in low doses). you even see he pairs quitting opiates with accepting he doesn't need infinite income

Fair enough. That sounds like a much more reasonable explanation. If that’s really true, he should just summon the courage to be honest.

It's already been done [0]:

> This documentary by Leo Regan follows the life of his friend, photographer Lanre Fehintola, as he becomes part of the hard drug scene through researching it for his book

[0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0876261/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_9

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PFRIGx69bw (scenes of drug taking)

He stopped himself and said this wasn't applicable to others.

Like most? all? of the names dropped in the article, he appears to be interminably up his own ass. Not sure why he was notable enough for a long form interview

His Wikipedia article does a bit better.of a job explaining his technical accomplishments vs the passing mentions in the article.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hotz

You never heard of geohot before? He’s a very well known figure in the broader hacker and open source world since he’s a teenager. He will always be remembered for his work on iOS and the PS3 jailbreak, and his public stance against Sony (and his infamous rap songs). He has a really impressive public track record of technical achievements and reaching goals he boasted publicly about. And more than demonstrated his technical abilities and moral stance over the years.

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