SpaceX hires boy, 14, who became youngest graduate at California university | Hacker News Reader

SpaceX hires boy, 14, who became youngest graduate at California university

theguardian.com

13 pointsgmays49 comments

I am sure that he is very intelligent, but this is literally child labour.

Especially if you are 14, there is more to life than education and career. And I can't help but think that this might eventually harm him, a major company isn't a place for a 14 year old who should be making friends his own age.

Child labour isn't just bad because it is potentially dangerous and keeps children out of education, but because it can also sever their connection with their peers.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't think this will end well for him --- and clearly no one really cares about that.

"Employees" are just disposable cogs in the capitalistic machine --- and this only further illustrates the point.

Conversely, how would you feel if you were forced to be friends with 14 year Olds with an adult intellect.

The reality is that there's probably no good fit for this person, so it makes sense to leave it up to them and their parents decide how they want to spend their time

I hope that at the very least his parents encourage him to participate in non-technical activities with kids his age, e.g. sports, musics, chess.

I hope he has a non technical life too. I just don't assume that he would enjoy that interaction with other 14 year-olds. If he is used to studying and now working with adults, he might find them childish, boring, and unrelatable.

I have friends who have very different careers with very little technical expertise. Why can't he?

The point is that he is not talking to them about engineering, but sports, videogames or music.

I agree with having diverse friends and non-technical interests. What I was reacting to is the idea that he should associate with other 14 year olds. It is possible that he would find their behavior juvenile, the way you or I would if we had to hang out with 14 year olds.

I don't think it was implied that he should be "forced" to be friends with anyone.

But there is more to being an adult than just intellect. And I question if it is even emotionally or mentally possible before puberty.

> a major company isn't a place for a 14 year old

Neither is Mars a place for people. Sometimes people have their own unique goals and understand the tradeoffs

But he is a child, even tho he is out of school he likely still needs to develop socially. I'm betting he worked is ass of in school... i.e. there is likely improvement in soft skills

this assumes that the best way to develop socially and improve soft skills is to hang out with other children.

As a father of 2, yes. Assuming the other children are reasonable... Hey maybe this kid is fully capable adult... but that is improbable.

What would you have him do instead? Go to a high school for 4 years as a daycare, where all of his peers will be until 3pm? I could only see a case for ensuring a limited schedule (like being done at 3pm) because SpaceX is known for being such a grueling 60 hour week place.

>What would you have him do instead?

His parents should encourage him to go to non-technival activities with kids his age. Sports, music, chess, etc.

Kids his age are in high school until 3pm. Him doing those activities after 3pm isn’t hindered by deciding to work for SpaceX until 3pm

He is smart maybe he should try and start an business or something.. I mean he isn't working for sustenance here, he is still a dependent. At least that is what I would do.

> he likely still needs to develop socially

You think starting a business as a 14 year old is a better social improvement than working with others at a SpaceX office?

why apply a mold to someone who is clearly exceptional? this guy is probably living his dream will be schooling phds older than him in short time. I’m gonna guess he’s smart enough to know what he wants.

I think you're conflating technical intelligence with emotional intelligence. Letting him work is fine but without being around people his own age he will struggle with emotional growth. If you look at child actors a lot of them become poorly adjusted adults because of this lack of community or peer support. Just like with child actors though, a good family and support system can help them grow to be good or even amazing people.

I do think he is exceptional and should be allowed to do this if he is passionate about it, I just hope that he has people around him to make sure he's not taken advantage of and still has opportunities to experience life with peers, both in age and intellect

How can he make friends with other kids? Partying, dancing, playing baseball, going to date night, etc.?

It's clear that he's not interested in those, and forcing him to do so only causes him to withdraw further to his bubble. At least a job gets him to hang out with people closer to his ability.

>It's clear that he's not interested in those

How so?

I knew a 16 year old girl in university. She was taken advantage of by several adults who were in positions of authority or mentorship. She was technically above the age of consent, but she was harmed severely -- both in terms of trauma and reputationally: dating a 16 year old results in 16 year old drama and that killed her career because those were the guys that were supposed to be stepping-stones for her career. She was entirely capable of interfacing with adult peers, but she was exceedingly naive. I agree that 14 year olds, regardless of intellect, should not be working full time anywhere.

Welcome to corporate America --- the world's most hyper-competitive, short sighted, greed obsessed machine.

I hope you find the experience of working long hours to produce large profits for your corporate overlords more stimulating, fulfilling and satisfying than I did.

This almost feels like a realistic fiction book honestly, but that’s pretty amazing for him. When he said he wishes for leaders in influential positions to change their positions on people, I sort of agree but I more hope that those leaders will look at what this 14 year old has achieved and hold other people to higher standards. Not necessarily to the same standard as him, but just higher relative to what the bar is currently at right now

> those leaders will look at what this 14 year old has achieved and hold other people to higher

Not going to happen. On average people are performing to their abilities. We work to live not live to work. I like my job, and I care about my product, but I have a family with 2 young boys, and I rather focus on them then working harder.

How old are you? Your sentiment is not uncommon among the interns. Prios change as you learn and age.

As someone entering the workforce, made my own projects in my free time, paying attention to my peers, and using connections I have to talk to people hiring and in leader positions, people are absolutely not performing to their abilities. It takes 4x as many people to do the same if not less work than 10 years ago. The fact that I can spend 1.5 months working on learning how to be a full stack dev over the summer and that is more work than most of my peers is not a good thing. There needs to be higher standards or else we stagnate and dont improve

> It takes 4x as many people to do the same if not less work than 10 years ago.

In what sense? I've been programing for a while now and I say we are more productive than ever with the massive amount of tools, and high-level languages at our hand.. if anything we often flounder to find the right tool for the job.

> 1.5 months working on learning how to be a full stack dev over the summer

Sure, but can you do it well? I can read the English dictionary in the same time, but that won't make me a master at the language. Part of the job is not making a solution but the best solution according to the work order. This imo only comes with experience working in teams.

Maybe what you said is all true and you work with a crap code mill, in that case move on and fins a better job for your own sake... If it's not true... your hubris is going to bite you in the ass.

Bluntly, the adults around him have done him a disservice: he should be allowed to be a child (with its concomitant mistakes and experimentation) -- even if a precocious one.[0]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzdVSMRu16g

He’s using VSCode, he can’t be a super genius! Someone get this kid on Emacs or Neovim.

VSCode is a neovim frontend.

What's wrong with VSCode?

Nothing, it’s a joke about how neovim users like myself think we’re better.

Wow, that's amazing. I wish for him the best for the future!

... But damn if this doesn't me make just feel hate for myself considering my lack of achievements by that date or even now.

Don't do that. Be glad you're your own person. You don't get that far that fast without being pushed harder than any kid should be pushed.

I used to be this kid. I finished undergrad when I was twenty and had I minmaxed for age like he did I would've been sixteen or even younger. I can't overstate how much it fucked me up socially. Trust me that it's not a life you want.

I'd bet money that he has some of the same mental health issues I've had to struggle with, including but not limited to having a social identity that's defined for you before you're old enough to understand what a social identity is. We assign people's genders at birth and don't think anything of it. Everything about me was assigned before I was old enough to choose for myself, and the moment I outgrew and stepped out of that image I was basically disowned.

Is he required to work in the office min 40h per week?

Is that worse than high-school?

I attended high school from 8am to 3pm with a 45-minute lunch break and 15-minute reading break.

6hrs. Plus the 5-10 minutes between classes where I had to get up and walk to the next classroom.

And you're saying that the work environment at SpaceX is comparable?

You may have had an easier high-school experience than I did. I had a commute of 30-45 minutes, I had long periods where I wasn't allowed to use the bathroom (and even when I could, the time in betweeen was short), my belongings were often messed with (people messed with the locker locks), and mucg higher academic expectations than I've seen in any workplace.

30-45 minutes each way? Were you in a rural environment or go to a private school?

Catholic school, pretty common in my part of the country. My wife had a similar experience on a bus at a public school, two counties more rural.

I had a similar experience with public school even in Los Angeles, and thats before I started taking public transit and school buses to get to and from school. It would often take the better part of an hour with minimal LA traffic

Everything in LA is the better part of an hour away, not just schools. :-)

I’m sorry you have such a tough time at school but the solution is to make school better not avoid it. Charter schools in the southeast are taking a dangerous hyper religious turn and aren’t going away anytime soon.

Maybe things have changed but I think 50-70 is more typical for SpaceX

A few things to say:

First, that's actually pretty cool. Second, that's just not what a 14 year old should be doing.

Third, fucking VSCode? You gotta be kidding me.

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