4 ms·

No. Unless it's her passion, but I'm not going to encourage her specifically in this direction. I want to invest equally (as much as I can) in other STEM, in ar

No. Unless it's her passion, but I'm not going to encourage her specifically in this direction. I want to invest equally (as much as I can) in other STEM, in art, in sports. Maybe she'll be a playwright? Or an athlete? Or a scientist? Or dedicate her life to help other people or animals? Even if she is interested in programming, I'd warn her about burnout, about the ultra long feedback cycles, about the exhausting rate of technology progress. Make sure she knows the path ahead. It's weighted, I know, because I can only tell her about this path and not others. On the other hand, there's weight to the other side by seeing me doing that, being able to get advice and direction. I want her to be happy. Fulfilled if possible. Good work-life balance, preferable on the side of "life" than "work". If I can leave her enough money to choose her profession rather than have to follow the money.

paulddraper 3y ago
> scientist > Ultra long feedback cycles Lol
- xboxnolifes 3y ago
  This one confused me. Software has some of the tightest feedback cycles in day to day work of any profession I can really think of.
  - pfannkuchen 3y ago
    Absolutely. I think this is why many people basically become addicted to it. You don’t need much discipline in many cases to get things done, you can just ride the dopamine (etc) hits.
    - xboxnolifes 3y ago
      For me it's less the dopamine hits and more the assurance. I don't need to invest 3 months testing something, I spend (maybe) 3 weeks. Instead of a full day of setup and testing something small, I can try and check within minutes.
- chongli 3y ago
  Yeah I’m confused about that as well. Programming has among the shortest feedback cycles of all! Heck, you can get your editor hooked up so that you get near-realtime feedback as you type. Now imagine being a particle physicist or something and waiting years or even decades just to have a chance to run your experiment!
- asfasfo 3y ago
  I moved out of a scientist role into software engineering specifically because I hated the long feedback cycles. My research feedback cycle would be 5-10 years.
criddell 3y ago
Even though the title includes a programmer's perspective, I don't think they were saying they want their child to follow in their professional footsteps. I think it was more about wanting their kid(s) to reach their potential, develop wisdom, good character, and always work on self-improvement.

paulddraper 3y ago

> scientist > Ultra long feedback cycles Lol

xboxnolifes 3y ago
This one confused me. Software has some of the tightest feedback cycles in day to day work of any profession I can really think of.
- pfannkuchen 3y ago
  Absolutely. I think this is why many people basically become addicted to it. You don’t need much discipline in many cases to get things done, you can just ride the dopamine (etc) hits.
  - xboxnolifes 3y ago
    For me it's less the dopamine hits and more the assurance. I don't need to invest 3 months testing something, I spend (maybe) 3 weeks. Instead of a full day of setup and testing something small, I can try and check within minutes.
chongli 3y ago
Yeah I’m confused about that as well. Programming has among the shortest feedback cycles of all! Heck, you can get your editor hooked up so that you get near-realtime feedback as you type. Now imagine being a particle physicist or something and waiting years or even decades just to have a chance to run your experiment!
asfasfo 3y ago
I moved out of a scientist role into software engineering specifically because I hated the long feedback cycles. My research feedback cycle would be 5-10 years.

criddell 3y ago

Even though the title includes a programmer's perspective, I don't think they were saying they want their child to follow in their professional footsteps. I think it was more about wanting their kid(s) to reach their potential, develop wisdom, good character, and always work on self-improvement.