Let me try to describe who I am as a software engineer. That’s what you came for right? Not Mat Lipe the man, but Mat Lipe the cog in the technical machine.
To explain this part of me I must first help you understand that I am not a nerd. I never have been. As a child I did play around a little with computers that my uncle gave me to mess with. I wrote a few text based games using QBasic which were unwinnable and created mostly to frustrate my overachieving sisters. Yes, I did hack the school administration computers in JR high school and put myself on the honor roll without completing any assignments, but at the time if was more about rebellion than technology. Age 14 to about 20 I probably touched a computer less than 5 times. I never thought in a million years I would make a career out of computers. In many ways I dead set against it.
Today
Fast forward to 2026 and I am still not a nerd. Yet, this still surprises folks when they meet me. My choice and accomplishments in my career would suggest I have always been a nerd. How else could I posses these kinds of skills.
The truth is, I hate technology. Maybe “hate” is not the right word.. I dislike fantasy open world games. Unfortunately, technology has made the human race one big fantasy open world game. I don’t know the real you, you don’t know the real you, you don’t know the real me. And, this is sad. Your fake persona created to exist in this modern society is boring and annoying. Is pretending to be glamourous and grateful while farming out your decisions to marketing companies providing a fulfilling life experience? Yean, me neither.
Capitalism
I am in technology because you pay me well for it. I honestly believe (despite what my mom says) that without technology I would not be able to afford all my constant pursuits and adventures. I show up to work, solve interesting problems by writing really great code, leave work, turn off technology and live my life.
I literally leave my phone on my end table with my ringer off the majority of every day. I chose vacation destinations every quarter which take me out of cell and Wi-Fi range. I’m not talking about hiking in the woods, I’m talking about taking a boat to central America. I frequently leave my phone at home for entire weekends. You cannot reach me unless I am actively trying to reach you. Not as a rule, but as a choice. Yes, this bothers my managers at work and sometimes it appears my family would prefer I was more accessible via technology. When confronted, I typically say something like, “Would you prefer I be mediocre, depressed and accessible. Or be more confident, spontaneous and human”. The honest answer would probably be “accessible”, but being polite requires responding with the later.
Irony
The more immediate irony is this section of this article will never be read by anyone. I’m not deluding myself to think I can keep your attention span for 7 paragraphs without any blinking ads or tickets.
You’ll notice if you clicked the button, that nothing happened. Exactly the same as every other website with similar buttons except it did not take your time and money before doing nothing for you. Ok, back to the foreword…
The real irony is am a great software engineer. Truly, one of the best in the world. I think I have worked for enough of the major software engineering companies and with enough software engineers to accurately judge greatness. There are many engineers out there that are better than me at specific language or discipline, but almost none who can match me across the whole stack from tools to servers to cross language code.
I have been working 3 jobs since 2011 all while maintaining 50 plus open source projects. Most the the time I am so bored I fear I may die right here at my keyboard from boredom. I have to constantly slow myself down to allow other team members to catch up. I literally can’t wait for 5:00pm so I can turn off my computer and start the real life portion of my day.
So why is it that I am better than all the life long nerds? Honestly, I have no idea.