[guylhem]

I think I'll pass : Just yesterday, I took a public commitment to stop drinking coffee (and submitted in everywhere - FB, HN, etc.)

https://plus.google.com/109562561013887378542/posts/X8cLiHYe...

We really are overdoing coffee as hackers. You can put anything you want in your body, I'm fine with the concept- but hackers shouldn't recommend hackers to drink coffee.

There's a difference between freedom and a culturally shaped ritual (hackers get by with caffeine) especially if it's with an addictive substance.

EDIT: I'm ok with the downvote (and the hating too, I guess I'll see that soon), and I'll be the 1st to recognize I'm not really adding anything interesting to this conversation. Just burning some karma to let you know that there is no cultural imperative to drink coffee as a hacker, and that you shouldn't even care about that.

Enforcing the cliché that hackers should drink or care about coffee is just as pointless as saying hackers should all be males.

It's culturally made. You can get social capital by enforcing social norms, but you can also see how pointless they are.

Do what you want with your body, put any substance you want into it. Just don't use that to sell a concept (here "hackers") that people will somehow feel obligated to follow ("brogrammers").

[gilrain]

Your admonishment here and elsewhere doesn't seem to offer any evidence or even a cogent argument. That's not to say I doubt an argument could be made -- there is plenty of academic ink spilled hailing coffee as both health blessing and health curse -- but it's pretty bold to say "hackers shouldn't recommend hackers to drink coffee" with nothing to back that up.

Maybe "hackers who have trouble getting enough sleep should avoid caffeine to see if that helps". Your posts sound more like religious, rather than reasoned, abstinence.

[guylhem]

I'm not selling people the idea they should or should not drink coffee for health reasons. We don't know, there is too much conflicting data.

I'm saying :

1) I shouldn't drink coffee for health reasons

2) We also shouldn't collectively define the "hacker" identity with unrelated things like coffee.

1 and 2 are totally unrelated. Yet saying 1 makes me say 2, because defining yourself as doing something or as not doing something is just as pointless. You are not a label.

We shouldn't fight for or against coffee - just make it something unrelated to the hacker identity, a choice - like vim or emacs or Writeroom or whatever, instead of a mandate and a common identity, which will necessarily exclude some people.

EDIT: And yes this discussion is not relevant and I'm sorry about it, and I should add a third point to make that clear :

3) You drink coffee if you want to. Not my problem.

Just want to let you know it's optional and you won't be any less of a hacker if you don't, and if you don't and need support, hey I'm starting a g+ community because I for sure will need some support!

[noonespecial]

I'm with you. Its starting to become the new "I don't even own a TV".

[tterrace]

This was a neat article about a hackathon, and it seems like you're ignoring the whole point of it to push a holy war against coffee. Also, you broke the several-month long streak during which I hadn't seen the word "brogrammer" used, so thanks for that as well.

[Systemic33]

You come of as one of those ultra religous people advocating for sex abstinence before marriage.

If you have gone into such a religous faith that coffee or caffeine is bad for you, then you are probably the one with the problem to begin with, anything should be taken in considerate amounts. You can literally die from water; if you drink enough of it.

And this discussion isn't even relevant to the posted link.

[Samuel_Michon]

I’m pretty sure you can’t die from too much sex abstinence.

[treerock]

if you took it too far the entire human race would die out.

[webnrrd2k]

Yes, although it would be from lowered birth rates, not increased death rates.