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I don’t enjoy arithmetic or typing much either, but they are skills you have to learn in school so you can do things you _do_ enjoy. I think “writing an essay”

I don’t enjoy arithmetic or typing much either, but they are skills you have to learn in school so you can do things you _do_ enjoy. I think “writing an essay” is about the same.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago
I went to a high school when and where typing was required as a pre-requisite to programming. The only C I got in my four years of high school. I think we make kids hate school via "sucking it up" when we really don't have to. Learning to write in the right context is much more effective than learning in the wrong context. But our educational system is so standardize that we have to fit most kids into the same interest peg.
- klyrs 4y ago
  Hah, I took a "keyboarding" course before programming was taught in my school. I typed a stretch at 60wpm. The teacher dryly remarked that I had just taken the 5wpm test and I'd need to work my way up to 60. Good times, good times...
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    I was just surprised we were graded on speed. Like, the girls (who...had thinner fingers on average?) would all get As by reaching 80 WPM, I'm stuck with fat fingers at 20-30 WPM (mind you, just copying text from one screen to another)...which is plenty of speed for programming and even writing comments on hacker news. These days, that would be considered insane! But in 1989...
    - klyrs 4y ago
      Take a look at Itzhak Perlman's hands[1] and listen to him play Paganini's 24 Caprices... I am positive that you could type faster if you tried. But, I agree, one does not need to be a champion speed typist to write good code. Think more, type less. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman#/media/File:Itzhak_Perlman_violinist_1984.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman#/media/File:Itz...
      - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
        Yes, thin dexitorious finger build isn’t necessary, but at 14 would have definitely been helpful. The job they were training us for (transcription) was mostly already on the way out anyways.
lupire 4y ago
Maybe, but schools don't teach essay writing, of tutorial writing, they teach an ugly form of mechanical writing.

I don’t enjoy arithmetic or typing much either, but they are skills you have to learn in school so you can do things you _do_ enjoy. I think “writing an essay” is about the same.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago

I went to a high school when and where typing was required as a pre-requisite to programming. The only C I got in my four years of high school. I think we make kids hate school via "sucking it up" when we really don't have to. Learning to write in the right context is much more effective than learning in the wrong context. But our educational system is so standardize that we have to fit most kids into the same interest peg.

klyrs 4y ago
Hah, I took a "keyboarding" course before programming was taught in my school. I typed a stretch at 60wpm. The teacher dryly remarked that I had just taken the 5wpm test and I'd need to work my way up to 60. Good times, good times...
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  I was just surprised we were graded on speed. Like, the girls (who...had thinner fingers on average?) would all get As by reaching 80 WPM, I'm stuck with fat fingers at 20-30 WPM (mind you, just copying text from one screen to another)...which is plenty of speed for programming and even writing comments on hacker news. These days, that would be considered insane! But in 1989...
  - klyrs 4y ago
    Take a look at Itzhak Perlman's hands[1] and listen to him play Paganini's 24 Caprices... I am positive that you could type faster if you tried. But, I agree, one does not need to be a champion speed typist to write good code. Think more, type less. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman#/media/File:Itzhak_Perlman_violinist_1984.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman#/media/File:Itz...
    - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
      Yes, thin dexitorious finger build isn’t necessary, but at 14 would have definitely been helpful. The job they were training us for (transcription) was mostly already on the way out anyways.

lupire 4y ago

Maybe, but schools don't teach essay writing, of tutorial writing, they teach an ugly form of mechanical writing.