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Simon Sarris
simonsarris.substack.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2010
Simon Sarris writes essays on tradition, belonging, agency, craft, and the limits of rationalism, and on designing a new old home.
What HN saysCommenters recommend it among favorite blogs, cite his essay on familiarity and belonging, and point to his argument against stoicism.
56HN people shared it
14linked it in comments
149stories submitted
1.6Kstory points
3 months agolast shared
2010people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1In Praise of the Gods: What the Rationalistic World Forgot6 people · 27 points · first shared 2020 · 4 comments on HN
- 2Stoicism is not enough5 people · 49 points · first shared 2021 · 49 comments on HN
- 3Are We Still Thinking?4 people · 16 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 4Reading Well4 people · 8 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 5Welcome, Ghosts4 people · 7 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 6ask: I prefer this to dark theme why is it not popular?4 people · 7 points · first shared 2020 · 1 comments on HN
- 7Familiarity and Belonging4 people · 7 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 8School is Not Enough: Learning is a consequence of doing (2021)3 people · 213 points · first shared 2024 · 131 comments on HN
- 9On the Usefulness of Photography3 people · 30 points · first shared 2021 · 5 comments on HN
- 10That which is unique, breaks3 people · 12 points · first shared 2020 · 1 comments on HN
- 11Simeville, purely HTML+CSS single page site with CSS3 content buttons, animation3 people · 8 points · first shared 2013 · 1 comments on HN
- 12The most precious resource is agency2 people · 701 points · first shared 2021 · 325 comments on HN
- 13Deliberate Practice for Knowledge Work2 people · 8 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 14How you clear your HTML5 Canvas matters2 people · 7 points · first shared 2011 · 1 comments on HN
- 15Designing a New Old Home2 people · 6 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
shime · 2021-05-27
A couple of my favorites:
- https://meltingasphalt.com/
- https://simonsarris.substack.com/
- https://ava.substack.com/
nicbou · 2026-07-12
Simon Sarris is always an instant read for me. This one was already published on his newsletter: https://map.simonsarris.com/
simonsarris · 2025-08-26
That is what my company does except we basically hire out of high school. After the founders, 100% of our employees (including myself) were hired directly as high school interns, kept for years during college, and got offers after graduation.
I wrote about this a bit. I wish we could hire more. I am kind of shocked how few companies do it. There are a LOT of smart kids who would love a summer programming job.
https://simonsarris.com/p/growing-software-developers
vwcx · 2025-03-28
This is tangent, but your comment reminds me of this essay that floats around HN every so often about how limiting school is. Young children are absolutely capable of greatness beyond what we ever ask of them, and most of us are okay with them growing up in the rigid, ordained box of modern public schooling: https://map.simonsarris.com/p/school-is-not-enough
andsoitis · 2024-05-17
love the goose palace! https://map.simonsarris.com/p/the-goose-palace
kkoncevicius · 2026-03-09
jakubmazanec · 2026-01-17
> https://simonsarris.com - My site
Too small page margins.
jacques_chester · 2011-04-21
For a more mind-bending perspective of permutations, look at Jorge Luis Borges. In particular, The Library of Babel[1] and The Lottery of Babylon[2].
These two stories are a bit like HP Lovecraft for mathematicians and computer scientists. What starts with a simple premise turns out to lead to an ever-unfolding sense of dread as the story approaches the consequences of infinity.
Babylon deals with probability directly, Babel deals with the concept of permutations. Some people say that Babel is outdated in the modern world but I disagree -- the fundamental problems still exist. The library is a platonic version of the "document-verse", just as the lottery is a platonic version of ordinary life.
I thoroughly recommend these stories and all others by the same author to hackers. Be prepared to be deep in thought for some time afterwards.
As for Arthur C Clarke, my favourite story of his was The Food of the Gods. Wonderfully paced and very funny.
(edit: linked to better-formatted version of Babel)
[1] http://simonsarris.com/lit/library-of-babel
[2] http://www.class.uh.edu/mcl/faculty/armstrong/cityofdreams/texts/babyl…
OmarShehata · 2023-06-04
> Having a job is a moral obligation and making kids work is good for them.
The second part of this sentence is not obviously false to me. Kids working exploitative & dangerous jobs, yes that's bad. Kids being allowed to work in general, I think is good.
I like Simon Sarris's take on this, from:
https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/the-most-precious-resource-is-agenc…
> I find it striking just how early, and how varied, the avenues were that allowed one to pivot off-script, to do something differently than everyone else. For a 13 year old today, what is the equivalent of being a telegraph office boy, where he can learn technology while contributing? What about for a 16 year old? 21 year old? What is today’s equivalent to being a studio apprentice of Verrocchio?
subject4056 · 2022-12-28
https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/designing-a-new-old-home-beginnings
Is highly opinionated but on-topic.
ketanhwr · 2022-06-26
Maybe you'll agree with this (really good) argument against stoicism: https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/stoicism-is-not-enough
mistermann · 2020-10-11
He has quite a few other articles, perhaps not quite as good as that one but the same style - I'd say this guy has a very special skill that you don't see too often.
https://simonsarris.substack.com/archive
I'd go so far as to say that the ideas in that post, and the manner in which they're presented, is getting pretty deep into subversive propaganda territory, but in a good way.
VMG · 2013-05-06
Ha! Caught you not mentioning your blog posts while I was adding this comment to my "canvas performance" bookmark list and saw a familiar name.
http://simonsarris.com/blog/tag/performance
mhielscher · 2012-09-17
It involves multiple redirects. One goes to http://simonsarris.com/recurse, which surely can be modified at any time. So, goo.gl short link to a controlled resource that shortly afterward is made to point back to the tweet.