3 ms·

Not necessarily, that maybe part of the explanation. The majority of the population is simply not capable of doing the work because it requires a high IQ.

by tymotm 11y ago

w1ntermute 11y ago
If that were the case, then theoretical physicists and mathematicians would be getting paid high salaries to do what they love, rather than decamping to Wall Street and wasting their lives performing financial gymnastics. Both supply and demand matter, and the vast majority of coding is something the average person could be trained to do, especially given how accessible the resources required to learn are. The problem is that the majority of people are not interested in spending their lives sitting in front of a computer for 8+ hours/day editing text files essentially reinventing the wheel.
- tymotm 11y ago
  Physics and Math aren't in demand the same way high programming ability is. "Both supply and demand matter, and the vast majority of coding is something the average person could be trained to do, especially given how accessible the resources required to learn are." This is wrong. Passing an interview like Microsoft's or Google's requires a very high IQ. They are designed that way for a reason. http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2007/02/its-all-about-brainpower.html http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2007/02/its-all-about-brainpower... The average person isn't nearly as smart as you think, probably because you mostly interact with people in a restricted range. For example, have you taken the SAT and do you remember how easy it was? Training, on average, fails to significantly improve SAT scores. http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2012/02/test-preparation-and-sat-scores.html http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2012/02/test-preparation-and-sat... If you think the average person can solve highly g-loaded algorithmic problems by practicing you are delusional. Most people could practice 16 hours a day for years on end and they would still do awful. Even for the more basic programming stuff, the performance of a higher IQ person is usually far, far better.
  - w1ntermute 11y ago
    I should've been more careful when I said that the "average person" would be able to learn how to code. You're right that I wasn't even thinking of those who had difficulty with the SAT, but rather those who went to good colleges and then went into a variety of non-tech fields, such as finance, law, medicine, or science. I was formally trained as a scientist, and many of my friends who didn't go into tech went into one of those 4 aforementioned fields. It's those groups of people (which is quite large) that I was referring to when I said that coding is something that can be self-taught with freely available online reference materials - myself and a couple of my friends have successfully done exactly that.
WalterSear 11y ago
More likely, IME, they could do the job fine, but have been led to believe that they need a higher IQ, so why bother to try?

Not necessarily, that maybe part of the explanation. The majority of the population is simply not capable of doing the work because it requires a high IQ.

by tymotm 11y ago

Not necessarily, that maybe part of the explanation. The majority of the population is simply not capable of doing the work because it requires a high IQ.

w1ntermute 11y ago

If that were the case, then theoretical physicists and mathematicians would be getting paid high salaries to do what they love, rather than decamping to Wall Street and wasting their lives performing financial gymnastics. Both supply and demand matter, and the vast majority of coding is something the average person could be trained to do, especially given how accessible the resources required to learn are. The problem is that the majority of people are not interested in spending their lives sitting in front of a computer for 8+ hours/day editing text files essentially reinventing the wheel.

tymotm 11y ago
Physics and Math aren't in demand the same way high programming ability is. "Both supply and demand matter, and the vast majority of coding is something the average person could be trained to do, especially given how accessible the resources required to learn are." This is wrong. Passing an interview like Microsoft's or Google's requires a very high IQ. They are designed that way for a reason. http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2007/02/its-all-about-brainpower.html http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2007/02/its-all-about-brainpower... The average person isn't nearly as smart as you think, probably because you mostly interact with people in a restricted range. For example, have you taken the SAT and do you remember how easy it was? Training, on average, fails to significantly improve SAT scores. http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2012/02/test-preparation-and-sat-scores.html http://infoproc.blogspot.ca/2012/02/test-preparation-and-sat... If you think the average person can solve highly g-loaded algorithmic problems by practicing you are delusional. Most people could practice 16 hours a day for years on end and they would still do awful. Even for the more basic programming stuff, the performance of a higher IQ person is usually far, far better.
- w1ntermute 11y ago
  I should've been more careful when I said that the "average person" would be able to learn how to code. You're right that I wasn't even thinking of those who had difficulty with the SAT, but rather those who went to good colleges and then went into a variety of non-tech fields, such as finance, law, medicine, or science. I was formally trained as a scientist, and many of my friends who didn't go into tech went into one of those 4 aforementioned fields. It's those groups of people (which is quite large) that I was referring to when I said that coding is something that can be self-taught with freely available online reference materials - myself and a couple of my friends have successfully done exactly that.

WalterSear 11y ago

More likely, IME, they could do the job fine, but have been led to believe that they need a higher IQ, so why bother to try?