4 ms·

And in the tech world. I had a sweng government contractor making six figures ask me how to sort lines in a text file.

Jtsummers 10y ago
Three of my forty coworkers actually understand the command-line on a level nearly on par with me, and I'm not an expert (locally, yes; globally, hardly). It's been frustrating me since my first real job in industry and others in government. I think I got spoiled in college by being surrounded by (mostly) curious tinkerers who had no problem delving into the multitude of tools that were available and exploring them. Post-school, people seem to lose that curiosity, if they ever possessed it, as a group.
- no_wave 10y ago
  Maybe you're just a better person than them.
  - Jtsummers 10y ago
    Possibly, but doubtful. I suppose really it's the unwillingness to learn (by otherwise educated and intelligent people, so they have or at least had the capacity for learning at one point). This is just a glaring example in the programming field. We literally program computers to do whatever we want (modulo performance or physical limitations), why would our tools be any different?
- egypturnash 10y ago
  I've been in job situations where just picking up a handful of hotkeys for a program is seen as Deep Wizardry. Most people just never learn how to do things like that.
- CaptSpify 10y ago
  Maybe it's not losing curiosity, but changes in priorities. IME: I had much more time available to spend learning tools like that. Now that I work, have a family, etc, I don't have as much time to spend.
  - adrianN 10y ago
    Learning tools like that should be part of your work imho.
    - CaptSpify 10y ago
      Sure, a part of it is. But I also have a lot of stuff that I have to get done at work as well, that I didn't have to get done at school.
- imron 10y ago
  And this is why 10x programmers are a thing.
- rkuykendall-com 10y ago
  It sounds like you took the wrong job. I was surrounded by curious tinkerers in school, and I'm very happy to say that at my first two jobs I have been surrounded by curious tinkerers.

Three of my forty coworkers actually understand the command-line on a level nearly on par with me, and I'm not an expert (locally, yes; globally, hardly). It's been frustrating me since my first real job in industry and others in government. I think I got spoiled in college by being surrounded by (mostly) curious tinkerers who had no problem delving into the multitude of tools that were available and exploring them. Post-school, people seem to lose that curiosity, if they ever possessed it, as a group.

no_wave 10y ago
Maybe you're just a better person than them.
- Jtsummers 10y ago
  Possibly, but doubtful. I suppose really it's the unwillingness to learn (by otherwise educated and intelligent people, so they have or at least had the capacity for learning at one point). This is just a glaring example in the programming field. We literally program computers to do whatever we want (modulo performance or physical limitations), why would our tools be any different?
egypturnash 10y ago
I've been in job situations where just picking up a handful of hotkeys for a program is seen as Deep Wizardry. Most people just never learn how to do things like that.
CaptSpify 10y ago
Maybe it's not losing curiosity, but changes in priorities. IME: I had much more time available to spend learning tools like that. Now that I work, have a family, etc, I don't have as much time to spend.
- adrianN 10y ago
  Learning tools like that should be part of your work imho.
  - CaptSpify 10y ago
    Sure, a part of it is. But I also have a lot of stuff that I have to get done at work as well, that I didn't have to get done at school.
imron 10y ago
And this is why 10x programmers are a thing.
rkuykendall-com 10y ago
It sounds like you took the wrong job. I was surrounded by curious tinkerers in school, and I'm very happy to say that at my first two jobs I have been surrounded by curious tinkerers.