Talks to Watch

Brain Surgeon - That Mitchell & Webb Look , Series 3 - BBC

5.9M views · Jun 9, 2009 · 2:09 · 0 HN recommenders · 14 mentions · discussed 2009–2026

A short That Mitchell and Webb Look sketch in which a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon trade jibes over whose job is harder. It is a BBC comedy clip from 2009.

Why Hacker News points people here: Mostly posted as a joke or reference when threads touch on status, difficulty or jobs.

What Hacker News said 14

JokeaxodJun 2009

“Off topic, but very funny”

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Yeah you'd have to be a rocket scientist to be able to look down the list and find the biggest numbers... Off topic, but very funny: this video

in “Are Silicon Valley Startups More Likely To Be Acquired?” · view on HN
JokelosethosApr 2013
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this video X_dot = A X + B U Y = C X + D U Rocket science I did simstructure -- rocketscience My master's degree is rocket science link Snort: you'll notice that little course called "nonlinear control systems" with the A after it? That's as far as you can go in math. Nonlinear differential equations. Ask any mathmetician. He'll tell you nonlinear differential equations is the end of the road.

JokelouthyOct 2014

“My favourite of those.”

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> We make jokes about how nearly nothing is "rocket science" or "brain surgery" for a reason this video My favourite of those.

in “Orbital Sciences Antares rocket explodes after liftoff” · view on HN
JokeAnkhMorporkianFeb 2017

“I'm just going to leave this here for anyone who wants a good laugh for their morning.”

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I don't tend to link youtube videos on HN, particularly of the comedic type, but I'm just going to leave this here for anyone who wants a good laugh for their morning. this video

in “Takeover.sh – Wipe and reinstall a running Linux system via SSH without reboot” · view on HN
Jokedom0Apr 2017

“Have a free laugh”

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We already have people that perform the software equivalent of rocket brain surgery... ANFSCD: Have a free laugh: this video

in “Everything Is Broken (2014)” · view on HN
JokejwbensleyApr 2018

“It was in reference to That Mitchell and Webb Look”

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It's very common that someone hasn't heard of everything. It's why down votes without explanation are bad, like on StackOverflow. It was in reference to That Mitchell and Webb Look: link this video

in “Half of European flights delayed due to system failure” · view on HN
JokeneilvMay 2019
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I don't think plumber vs. theoretical physics post-doc is a great example. Plumbing is critical skilled work, taking years to master, and is paid accordingly. I imagine plumbing is also very stressful, at times, such as when you're being careful not to flood a building, or avoiding breaking something that would require ripping open a floor to fix. Though plumbing guild training sounds not entirely different than academia. (And postdocs tend to get paid poo because the market, and their guild, permit it.) We should also be careful of to avoid the oopses of: "Brain Surgeon - That Mitchell & Webb Look, Series 3 - BBC Two" this video

in “Tech Jobs Lead to the Middle Class, But Not for the Masses” · view on HN
JokekbensonSep 2019

“Now I can't help remembering a sketch from Mitchell and Webb.”

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That's the best description. "Joe over there? Oh, he's a rocket surgeon." Now I can't help remembering a sketch from Mitchell and Webb.[1] 1: this video

in “Starship Prototype Unveiled” · view on HN
JokeeffingwewtSep 2021

“infamous That Mitchell and Webb Look sketch =)”

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His point was he has the skills. I made the point about bootcamps, skills are easily obtained. Implying the janitor could not gain the skills is insane. Thinking a SE could begin a janitorial job tomorrow and do it as well as the janitor is laughable. SE skills are just a bit harder to come by, they aren't special. If your skills can be learned in a 6 week course you are not an astrophysicist nor a brain surgeon. SEs are paid well and so have an overinflated self-value. Again, now that this is crashing with WFH. We have code chop shops in India, yet we still try and pretend coding is some modern-day magic language. ninja edit- hit reply b4 finished 2nd edit- reminded me of this [1] infamous That Mitchell and Webb Look sketch =) [1] this video

in “If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?” · view on HN
JokehotpotamusApr 2023

“It's a reference to a Mitchell and Webb sketch about the status games that people play around employment.”

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It's a reference to a Mitchell and Webb sketch about the status games that people play around employment. this video

in “Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living” · view on HN
JokekowloAug 2023
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I made a VESA mount for my iPad [1]. It wasn't exactly brain surgery [2], but I thought it was cool! [1] link [2] this video

in “Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?” · view on HN
JokebatterylowAug 2023
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I made a VESA mount for my iPad [1]. It wasn't exactly brain surgery [2], but I thought it was cool! [1] link [2] this video

in “Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?” · view on HN
JokepcthrowawayJul 2025

“the Rocket Scientist vs Brain Surgeon sketch”

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There is no problem with it, but I assume there are many people who will look upon you favourably if they think you do a highly skilled job. While many of us may not care to impress those people, there are certainly those who do (possibly people with similar attitudes who care more about validation from people who think like them) A somewhat ungenerous characterization of the attitude may be something like the Rocket Scientist vs Brain Surgeon sketch - this video But we should also acknowledge that there's an entire culture built around valuing people and their time relative to one's perception of their "importance", that this culture can influence one's earning potential and acquisition of material possessions, and that many people do care about things like "seeming important" or moving upwards in this hierarchy as a result.

in “New sphere-packing record stems from an unexpected source” · view on HN
JokenetsharcJun 2026
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I found his website, link , and the "2%" brag is the very first sentence, geez. Being the top x% is what OnlyFans girls brag about, professor... And it's not exactly brain surgery, is it? this video

in “Nvidia is proposing a beast of a CPU system for Windows PCs” · view on HN