[atrilla]

Simply put: be curious. As far as I know, the first hackers built train models (http://tmrc.mit.edu/).

Research, make stuff, learn.

[pbhjpbhj]

The first hackers probably made fire and flint hand-axes.

[doodpants]

The first hackers, instead of eating every piece of algae they encountered, probably tried sticking two or three pieces of algae together, and then used those clumps to propel themselves towards areas with larger concentrations of algae.

[towelguy]

And of course, there's an emacs command to do that.