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> As someone of rather limited talent, I have long been aware that if I'm not proactive about learning, I will fall even further behind where I would like to be

> As someone of rather limited talent, I have long been aware that if I'm not proactive about learning, I will fall even further behind where I would like to be. Then in his bio... Shopify / Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Language Engineering. I guess we have wildly differing opinions on what is considered rather limited talent. But I don't want to downplay the blogpost by nitpicking here, his main point still stands.

caslon 5y ago
People of limited talent can still go on to do things that earn money. It's actually pretty common for gifted children to fail economically if not properly supported; someone of limited talent isn't as likely to get disproportionately unrewarded for their level of skill at early levels, which helps them later on.
hennell 5y ago
He might mean limited 'natutal' talent. Some people just inhale new concepts and syntax and grok it all instantly. Others of us have to really work at learning, understanding and using it before it clicks, and even then it's easy to forget if you don't use it often. But that second group can be ultimately more successful because they've learnt how to learn, the natural learner has no idea what they should do when it doesn't just click.
- Ultimatt 5y ago
  The people groking things instantly and inhaling ideas are actually the ones who learned to learn, and everyone else just thinks they have because they put a lot of effort into broken practises of learning.
  - someweirdperson 5y ago
    There isn't much new to learn. It is mostly new wheels, but those are still wheels, just in a different box.
    - eternityforest 5y ago
      There is in.... basically anything but programming. Programming is just the same wheels because when anything new happens, we call it math or comp sci or an algorithmic breakthrough or something. Ever so often something new comes along in programming, but I don't really see a lot missing. Current languages are good. Ecosystems and libraries have missing pieces, but I basically never code in Python and think "Oh I wish I had X", aside from more performance. It's only very rarely I hear about a new concept in programming that's really exciting. Async/Await is probably the most recent thing I can think of.
  - cinntaile 5y ago
    I think this downplays the importance of innate intelligence and it is not something you compensate for by simply learning "the right way". It would be nice if it was like that though.
- someweirdperson 5y ago
  > He might mean limited 'natutal' talent. Some people just inhale new concepts and syntax and grok it all instantly. He also describes how it might look like some musicians can do magic effortlessly, but recognizes that it is based on training. And the same is true for software. It is incredibly difficult to judge "natural" talent. The skill level can be judged, but the amount of prior experience cannot. It is always self-reported, or just estimated. Total time spent and the age at wich the first line of code was written is probably extremely high/low respectively for people considered talented.

caslon 5y ago

People of limited talent can still go on to do things that earn money. It's actually pretty common for gifted children to fail economically if not properly supported; someone of limited talent isn't as likely to get disproportionately unrewarded for their level of skill at early levels, which helps them later on.

hennell 5y ago

He might mean limited 'natutal' talent. Some people just inhale new concepts and syntax and grok it all instantly. Others of us have to really work at learning, understanding and using it before it clicks, and even then it's easy to forget if you don't use it often. But that second group can be ultimately more successful because they've learnt how to learn, the natural learner has no idea what they should do when it doesn't just click.

Ultimatt 5y ago
The people groking things instantly and inhaling ideas are actually the ones who learned to learn, and everyone else just thinks they have because they put a lot of effort into broken practises of learning.
- someweirdperson 5y ago
  There isn't much new to learn. It is mostly new wheels, but those are still wheels, just in a different box.
  - eternityforest 5y ago
    There is in.... basically anything but programming. Programming is just the same wheels because when anything new happens, we call it math or comp sci or an algorithmic breakthrough or something. Ever so often something new comes along in programming, but I don't really see a lot missing. Current languages are good. Ecosystems and libraries have missing pieces, but I basically never code in Python and think "Oh I wish I had X", aside from more performance. It's only very rarely I hear about a new concept in programming that's really exciting. Async/Await is probably the most recent thing I can think of.
- cinntaile 5y ago
  I think this downplays the importance of innate intelligence and it is not something you compensate for by simply learning "the right way". It would be nice if it was like that though.
someweirdperson 5y ago
> He might mean limited 'natutal' talent. Some people just inhale new concepts and syntax and grok it all instantly. He also describes how it might look like some musicians can do magic effortlessly, but recognizes that it is based on training. And the same is true for software. It is incredibly difficult to judge "natural" talent. The skill level can be judged, but the amount of prior experience cannot. It is always self-reported, or just estimated. Total time spent and the age at wich the first line of code was written is probably extremely high/low respectively for people considered talented.