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A talk entitled "How to teach programming to your loved ones: Enabling students over example-driven teaching" and you reply "Step 1: You don't"... that's pretty

A talk entitled "How to teach programming to your loved ones: Enabling students over example-driven teaching" and you reply "Step 1: You don't"... that's pretty harsh. How would you say the author should have approached it instead?

gshrikant 8y ago
I don't think that's harsh for the title of the video as posted on HN. Like many others interested in programming, I've tried teaching it to my loved ones and come back with the understanding they either they don't need to or they don't care. A lot of programmers I know tend to assume that other people need to know this stuff or that it is important to their lives somehow which is a narrow view of the world to say the least. My girlfriend might listen to me talk about programming but assuming that she needs to be brought into the fold _somehow_ feels selfish to me. Again this is all subjective and anecdotal. I'm sure the talk would be useful to someone who knows someone who is interested and is just looking for the best way to teach them.
avip 8y ago
It's harsh because it's true. There's no reason to teach love one's coding. In fact, there's no reason to teach them anything that does not resonate with them naturally.
- elbear 8y ago
  Where does it say that you should teach them if they don't resonate with the topic? I took the talk as learning how to teach the topic better to your loved ones or anyone else for that matter. (I haven't watched it yet)
- shard 8y ago
  I think there are many topics that should be taught to loved ones even if it doesn't resonate with them naturally. The ones that come immediately to my mind are: financial literacy, how to prepare for and respond in emergency situations (e.g. natural disasters, medical emergencies, threats from assailants), critical thinking. Knowing these can potentially save them from many expensive or life threatening mistakes and I would force them on my loved ones even if they resist.
  - avip 8y ago
    You know something? you're right. You had me at financial literacy.
alexanderdmitri 8y ago
There's a really good article in the top ten on Lawyer News right now: How to Teach Your Loved Ones to Perform Legal Research. A lot of the advice could be applied here pretty well.

gshrikant 8y ago

I don't think that's harsh for the title of the video as posted on HN. Like many others interested in programming, I've tried teaching it to my loved ones and come back with the understanding they either they don't need to or they don't care. A lot of programmers I know tend to assume that other people need to know this stuff or that it is important to their lives somehow which is a narrow view of the world to say the least. My girlfriend might listen to me talk about programming but assuming that she needs to be brought into the fold _somehow_ feels selfish to me. Again this is all subjective and anecdotal. I'm sure the talk would be useful to someone who knows someone who is interested and is just looking for the best way to teach them.

avip 8y ago

It's harsh because it's true. There's no reason to teach love one's coding. In fact, there's no reason to teach them anything that does not resonate with them naturally.

elbear 8y ago
Where does it say that you should teach them if they don't resonate with the topic? I took the talk as learning how to teach the topic better to your loved ones or anyone else for that matter. (I haven't watched it yet)
shard 8y ago
I think there are many topics that should be taught to loved ones even if it doesn't resonate with them naturally. The ones that come immediately to my mind are: financial literacy, how to prepare for and respond in emergency situations (e.g. natural disasters, medical emergencies, threats from assailants), critical thinking. Knowing these can potentially save them from many expensive or life threatening mistakes and I would force them on my loved ones even if they resist.
- avip 8y ago
  You know something? you're right. You had me at financial literacy.

alexanderdmitri 8y ago

There's a really good article in the top ten on Lawyer News right now: How to Teach Your Loved Ones to Perform Legal Research. A lot of the advice could be applied here pretty well.