odkfn

Firstly, you're inspirational as shit.

Now, questions!

1. Given that you injured yourself in a BMX accident I take it you were active before - has that made being a quadriplegic particularly hard?

2. What does the future look like? With physio how much improvement can you expect?

3. Have your hobbies/general interests changed post-accident?

4. How do you stay so positive? It's such an amazing outlook to have on life.

Apologies if you've already answered any of these, I'm about read now!

I mean this in the least offensive way possible but it seems like your lifestyle is what everyone would resort to if they had the luxury of it - you say normal work and life doesn’t excite you or show you the meaning of life, but most people don’t have the fortune (health, financial, luck, etc.) to simply stop going to a job. So, whilst I find your story and lifestyle interesting, I find it hard to sympathise - although I know you’re not explicitly seeking sympathy.

In the interests of asking a question (as this is an AMA) id ask do you believe they way you feel is any different than what everyone else feels, or simply that you handle it differently?

And, also, do you not feel like you’re missing a lot in life by not going outside?

I mean I’ll wait for his response before debating hypotheticals with you as a third party, but to respond to some of your points:

I agree with the first paragraph. Being able to continue to live a life where you don’t need a job like 95% of the population is very lucky by virtue of the fact that 95% of the population can’t get away with doing that. His privilege has allowed him to do this, he’s admitted that himself, from his aunt funding it for a while, to the money from the government, he’s obviously part funded it, but he’s already told us a deadline where he will no longer have money, so it’s not exactly a robust life plan. I never said he needed therapy, nor that he wasn’t well adjusted, I’d simply said there’s probably more to experience outside a box than inside one.

Again, I’ll wait for OPs response!

I do agree - I have a masters degree in engineering and working loads of 10-16 hour days to meet deadlines and not put projects over budget is soul destroying, particularly as I’m quite artsy too, but I feel that’s just the nature of the world - you can opt for a less stressful job but it’ll likely come with less money which affords less money for the artsy hobby you like - at least, that was the case for me!

You could surely get an honorary doctorate for making software used by 3 million people a month!