Levy_S-Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution

Sometimes the hacker failure to be deeply personal had grim consequences. The lab might havebeen the ideal location for guru-level hackers, but for some the pressure was too much. Even thephysical layout of the place promoted a certain high-tension feeling, with the open terminals, theconstant intimidating presence of the greatest computer programmers in the world, the cold air andthe endless hum of the air conditioners. At one point a research firm was called in to do a study ofthe excessive, inescapable noise, and they concluded that the hum of the air conditioner was sobothersome because there weren't enough competing noises so they fixed the machines to makethem give off a loud, continual hiss. In Greenblatt's words, this change "was not a win," and theconstant hiss made the long hours on the ninth floor rather nerve-racking for some. Add that toother factors lack of sleep, missed meals to the point of malnutrition, and a driving passion to finishthat hack and it was clear why some hackers went straight over the edge.Greenblatt was best at spotting "the classical syndrome of various kinds of losses," as he called it."In a certain way, I was concerned about the fact that we couldn't have people dropping dead allover the place." Greenblatt would sometimes tell people to go home for a while, take it easy. Otherthings were beyond him. For instance, drugs. One night, while driving back from a Chinese meal, ayoung hacker turned to him and asked, not kidding, if he wanted to "shoot up." Greenblatt wasflabbergasted. The Real World was penetrating again, and there was little Greenblatt could do. Onenight not long afterward, that particular hacker leapt off the Harvard Bridge into the ice-coveredCharles River and was severely injured. It was not the only suicide attempt by an AI lab hacker.From that evidence alone, it would seem that Weizenbaum's point was well taken. But there wasmuch more to it than that. Weizenbaum did not acknowledge the beauty of the hacker devotionitself ... or the very idealism of the Hacker Ethic. He had not seen, as Ed Fredkin had. Stew Nelsoncomposing code on the TECO editor while Greenblatt and Gosper watched: without any of the threesaying a word. Nelson was entertaining the others, encoding assembly language tricks which tothem, with their absolute mastery of that PDP-6 "language," had the same effect as hilariouslyincisive jokes. And after every few instructions there would be another punch line in this sublimeform of communication... The scene was a demonstration of sharing which Fredkin never forgot.While conceding that hacker relationships were unusual, especially in that most hackers livedasexual lives, Fredkin would later say that "they were living the future of computers ... They justhad fun. They knew they were an elite, something special. And I think they appreciated each other.They were all different, but each knew something great about the other. They all respected eachother. I don't know if anything like [that hacker culture] has happened in the world. I would say theykind of loved each other."The hackers focused on the magic of computers instead of human emotions, but they also could betouched by other people. A prime example would be the case of Louis Merton. * Merton was anMIT student, somewhat reserved, and an exceptional chess player. Save for the last trait, Greenblattat first thought him well within the spectrum of random people who might wander into the lab.The fact that Merton was such a good chess player pleased Greenblatt, who was then working tobuild an actual computer which would run a souped-up version of his chess program. Mertonlearned some programming, and joined Greenblatt on the project. He later did his own chessprogram on a little-used PDP-7 on the ninth floor. Merton was enthusiastic about chess andcomputers, and there was little to foreshadow what happened during the Thanksgiving break in late1966, when, in the little theater-like AI "playroom" on Tech Square's eighth floor (where ProfessorSeymour Papert and a group were working on the educational LOGO computer language), Merton