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Honestly, the negativity in the comments so far has me flummoxed. What I see is a person, in a development role, posting about how they have been made to feel i

Honestly, the negativity in the comments so far has me flummoxed. What I see is a person, in a development role, posting about how they have been made to feel inadequate or unsuitable for their role, because they don't know things that aren't necessary for said role. If someone is succeeding, who cares whether they know Awk? If someone is doing the job and getting paid, who is anyone to make them feel inadequate, call them whiny, etc. What do we gain, both as people and as a community, for snubbing people who post things like this? Note that I didn't mention whether those things would make them better at their role. They probably would, but it matters less than the bulk of the comments seem to think.

BossingAround 6y ago
> If someone is succeeding, who cares whether they know Awk? I'd 100% agree with this (and the following) statements. I think what rubs commenters the wrong way is that the article seems to be almost celebrating the ignorance. It is of course a pure conjecture on the readers' side, but I think that's mostly what people object to. Not knowing things is OK. Being proud that you get paid despite not knowing things is not accepted in a subculture that prides itself on self-improvement.
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odonnellryan 6y ago
I think the impression I had from the article is the author was somehow proud of not knowing things. It's fine not to know things, and it's good to understand there will be countless things you'll never know, and probably even better to be comfortable with understanding that you don't need to know everything, but something about being proud of not knowing something - where it is a badge of honor? - feels weird. I wish I had a more of a drive to learn new things, more often than I do now. I don't like feeling like I'd be okay with never wanting to learn new things.
burning_hamster 6y ago
I think how you process the article really depends on whether you made it through to the first postscript. > PS - Don’t forget to be nice to your less nerdy co-workers. Don’t show surprise when they could be about to have a learning opportunity. Make them feel welcome and valued no matter their background and methods. Without that postscript, I think it is fairly easy to arrive at the interpretation that the author actually celebrates their ignorance (which I also don't think they do). Personally, I think they make a fair point: a bunch of work places for programmers/software engineers/whatever are dominated by "nerd" culture, such that "outsiders" can feel marginalized, and some of us nerds might do well to acknowledge that fact and remember the times when the roles were reversed. How the tables have turned!

BossingAround 6y ago

> If someone is succeeding, who cares whether they know Awk? I'd 100% agree with this (and the following) statements. I think what rubs commenters the wrong way is that the article seems to be almost celebrating the ignorance. It is of course a pure conjecture on the readers' side, but I think that's mostly what people object to. Not knowing things is OK. Being proud that you get paid despite not knowing things is not accepted in a subculture that prides itself on self-improvement.

deleted 6y ago

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odonnellryan 6y ago

I think the impression I had from the article is the author was somehow proud of not knowing things. It's fine not to know things, and it's good to understand there will be countless things you'll never know, and probably even better to be comfortable with understanding that you don't need to know everything, but something about being proud of not knowing something - where it is a badge of honor? - feels weird. I wish I had a more of a drive to learn new things, more often than I do now. I don't like feeling like I'd be okay with never wanting to learn new things.

burning_hamster 6y ago

I think how you process the article really depends on whether you made it through to the first postscript. > PS - Don’t forget to be nice to your less nerdy co-workers. Don’t show surprise when they could be about to have a learning opportunity. Make them feel welcome and valued no matter their background and methods. Without that postscript, I think it is fairly easy to arrive at the interpretation that the author actually celebrates their ignorance (which I also don't think they do). Personally, I think they make a fair point: a bunch of work places for programmers/software engineers/whatever are dominated by "nerd" culture, such that "outsiders" can feel marginalized, and some of us nerds might do well to acknowledge that fact and remember the times when the roles were reversed. How the tables have turned!