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I remember reading something someplace that was something like ... the problem with being old and full of wisdom is it's hard to share that wisdom with the peop
by blakesterz 7y ago
I remember reading something someplace that was something like ... the problem with being old and full of wisdom is it's hard to share that wisdom with the people that need it most without sounding like an old condescending jerk. Plus, they won't listen anyways. The best you can hope for is that when they are old and full of wisdom they'll remember you and think "hey that old guy was right" . I know when I was 25 I was damn sure I knew better than anyone twice my age.
- gumby 7y ago> I know when I was 25 I was damn sure I knew better than anyone twice my age. This is why I've long believed voting systems should restrict the voting age to 16-28. After all, whom would you rather have voting: people wracked with doubt and who fear their own ignorance, or people who know everything?
- irrational 7y agoYou are starting too late. In my experience 10 years old is when the all-knowing really kicks in. At least that is that age when each of my children gained omniscience. Apparently.
- mirimir 7y agoI'd rather have "people wracked with doubt and who fear their own ignorance" :)
- gumby 7y agoAh, so you don't believe in experts, eh? Not even ones apparently expert on every subject?
- mirimir 7y agoAs a non-testimonial litigation consultant, I used to joke that I could pose as an expert in anything, given a couple months. But in truth, one of my favorite deposition answers goes something like this: > I'm not prepared to offer an opinion on that question.
- gumby 7y agoMy joking aside, the tragedy is only the truely expert are willing to make this answer.
- mirimir 7y agoRight. But actually, "prepared" is often literally the case. Before critical depositions, experts spend a day or two, with attorneys and consultants, practicing replies. And experts are very cautious about answering unexpected questions.
- inopinatus 7y agoThe most inwardly digestible lessons are certainly those learned for oneself. Great teachers recognise this and will give you a task that invites you to make the same errors as they did. This is the basis of guild apprenticeships, PhD supervision, and 20% time for junior developers.
- LouisSayers 7y agoOne thing a number of people told me when I was younger was “you should travel when you’re young and don’t have kids”. ... and I’m happy to have listened and acted on that advice. Not everyone will listen, but sometimes there’ll be someone that does, or having heard the same advice numerous times from different people it’ll start to sink in at least a little.
- GuiA 7y agoFor engineering/creative endeavours at least, the trick is to keep making things that support what you say. It's pretty easy to get people to listen to you if they respect your skill. On the other hand, words are cheap.
- aeneasmackenzie 7y agoA while ago I was arguing with someone online about the best way to structure a matrix library. Then around four years later I realized he was completely right and I just didn't know enough to realize why. I'm sure this is a universal experience.
- sethammons 7y agoOne of the founders at my work was really good at designing production software. After working with him for a long while, I picked up some of his insights. After a design meeting where I saw him shaking his head (and I knew why), I asked why he didn’t speak up. He said that you can’t always tell someone the solution; sometimes they have to figure it out on their own. Not sure yet if I fully agree, but there is something to be said for that.
- dang 7y agoWhat was it that he was shaking his head at?
- sethammons 6y agoIt was so long ago. If I were to haphazardly venture to guess, likely something around assuming the network is reliable, scheduling retries, caching or cache invalidation.