# Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/hackers-and-painters/

2 people recommended Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 12 months, in 2 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

1 of the 2 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “How to Earn a Billion Dollars”.

**Verdict:** More people criticize it than recommend it. Short, easy-to-dip-into essays on programming and art that readers say sharpened their thinking. Critics say parts of it are dated and weak on art.

Summary written by Claude from the comments below.

## Why people recommend it

- Writes about things he understood (1 comment in the sample): "he wrote about things he understood" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48527969))
- Short essays, easy to dip into (1 comment in the sample): "It's short essays, easy to pick and put down, I've learned or solidified some of my knowledge tremendously" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905713))
- Credited with preventing leftist radicalization (1 comment in the sample): "it single-handedly prevented me from being radicalized by leftist ideologies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48529547))

## Other essay collections people recommend

- [Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion](https://hackerapproved.com/p/slouching-towards-bethlehem/): 7 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize
- [Why I Write by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/why-i-write/): 5 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke](https://hackerapproved.com/p/letters-to-a-young-poet/): 4 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/metamagical-themas/): 4 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham", https://hackerapproved.com/p/hackers-and-painters/ (2 recommend, 2 mixed, 3 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.