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I don't think that tech is any more complicated than other fields/subjects. Every subject has levels of abstraction, and as you advance the layers are gently st

I don't think that tech is any more complicated than other fields/subjects. Every subject has levels of abstraction, and as you advance the layers are gently stripped away. When I started in this field, I began by learning to use some apps, then progressed to learning a single programming language, then another, then about assembly and binary, then about logic gates and then about transistors. The reason for a talent shortage in tech has more to do with children's education than anything else. I remember giving a talk in front of about 600 developers and asking them, "How many of you chose this field because you were inspired by a teacher at your school?". I'd say about three hands went up. I think if I had been talking at a literature conference, a medical conference or an archaeological conference, there would have been far more hands raised in the air. The majority of successful developers that I know are self-taught. Even those with CS or SE degrees acknowledge that the skills that got them hired were self-taught. There could be thousands of potentially amazing developers out there that will never know their potential because they either never experienced being taught CS at school, or it was taught badly. Early years education is important. We should be introducing the subject as early as we introduce English, Math, Science, History, etc. We've all done history projects on the Romans, or Geography projects on volcanoes, when we were six or seven, why not do projects on Turing machines at the same age? Kids should be programming (Scratch) as soon as they can use a mouse and a keyboard. Unfortunately we have a vicious circle. While there is a tech shortage, we'll have a shortage of tech competent teachers. You're simply not going to get the best of the best, entering the world of education, when there are more lucrative jobs in industry. If we really want to solve the shortage of talent, CS teachers need to be paid an industry competitive salary, and then we need to wait twenty years for the products of their teaching to enter the market place

MuffinFlavored 7y ago
> There could be thousands of potentially amazing developers out there that will never know their potential because they either never experienced being taught CS at school, or it was taught badly. In my eyes, the same way it found all of the self-taught developers is the same way it "could have found" the group of potentially unbeknownst developers you are talking about. I'd guess the natural desire to understand how things work (taking apart electronic toys as a child) lead a lot of developers to developing. I find it hard to believe deep down there are generally curious tinkerers who haven't found their way to a programming language of some sort?
- bklaasen 7y ago
  > I find it hard to believe deep down there are generally curious tinkerers who haven't found their way to a programming language of some sort? I know one. He's rigourously logical. As a hobbyist, he's worked with electronics and complex mechanical systems: analogue cameras and vintage hifi were two of his passions. He's used computers for decades, but for some reason, they never clicked with him in any deep way. I've explained Turing machines to him, and he understands the concept, but it didn't trigger an interest in going deeper. Fundamentally it's about fear, I think. Fear of facing one's own intellectual shortcomings. Computers expose that in a more raw way than tinkering with physical objects, I think.
RealityVoid 7y ago
I think that the shortage of talented people is not tech-singular. I think there is a general shortage of skilled individuals in most fields. Tech is just the most obvious to us because the demand is so great. But it's not fair to act as if smart people not exposed to tech would wind up in a professional dead-end. Not ending up in tech simply means they will probably excel in some other highly intellectual demanding field.
SamReidHughes 7y ago
We have early education in math, but most high schoolers, over 90% of them, can’t solve basic word problems. There is a small proportion of students that might benefit from earlier exposure to software development. Instead of teaching them about Turing machines, it could be even better to give them more recess or shorten the school year.

MuffinFlavored 7y ago

> There could be thousands of potentially amazing developers out there that will never know their potential because they either never experienced being taught CS at school, or it was taught badly. In my eyes, the same way it found all of the self-taught developers is the same way it "could have found" the group of potentially unbeknownst developers you are talking about. I'd guess the natural desire to understand how things work (taking apart electronic toys as a child) lead a lot of developers to developing. I find it hard to believe deep down there are generally curious tinkerers who haven't found their way to a programming language of some sort?

bklaasen 7y ago
> I find it hard to believe deep down there are generally curious tinkerers who haven't found their way to a programming language of some sort? I know one. He's rigourously logical. As a hobbyist, he's worked with electronics and complex mechanical systems: analogue cameras and vintage hifi were two of his passions. He's used computers for decades, but for some reason, they never clicked with him in any deep way. I've explained Turing machines to him, and he understands the concept, but it didn't trigger an interest in going deeper. Fundamentally it's about fear, I think. Fear of facing one's own intellectual shortcomings. Computers expose that in a more raw way than tinkering with physical objects, I think.

RealityVoid 7y ago

I think that the shortage of talented people is not tech-singular. I think there is a general shortage of skilled individuals in most fields. Tech is just the most obvious to us because the demand is so great. But it's not fair to act as if smart people not exposed to tech would wind up in a professional dead-end. Not ending up in tech simply means they will probably excel in some other highly intellectual demanding field.

SamReidHughes 7y ago

We have early education in math, but most high schoolers, over 90% of them, can’t solve basic word problems. There is a small proportion of students that might benefit from earlier exposure to software development. Instead of teaching them about Turing machines, it could be even better to give them more recess or shorten the school year.