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I studied Film. Film similar to programming is a field where there is so much to learn and every project might be completely new and follow it's own rules and c

by atoav 3y ago

I studied Film. Film similar to programming is a field where there is so much to learn and every project might be completely new and follow it's own rules and circumstances. I had many collegues in unversity that had to shoot themselves into the foot. A normal part of learning. But as we were always working together everybody had the chance to see the others doing so. Now there were some people who saw others shoot themselves in the foot in a particular way, only to go and do the same thing on their own project. Don't be that type of person. Be the person who observes others shoot themselves into their foot and wonder how you could prevent yourself from doing that in the future (and accept that for some things you can't). Software engineering is very similar. Sure maybe you are the type of person who can't grok a footgun unless they got shot by it. But you can try not to be that type of person. Making mistakes is important. But make them at home or in toy projects, don't make them in a decade long effort by a ten people team with the data of million people. And if you are in such a project it is part of your job to learn from other similar projects and the ways they shot themselves into the foot.

scyzoryk_xyz 3y ago
Film (production) grad here as well. A good film school program is a space where teams of people get to make all their mistakes and figure out what they're about while making horrendously flawed pieces. Everyone exits with a slightly different baggage of experience. I would add one thought here - it's not just about seeing others make mistakes, or about making the mistakes yourself. It's also about seeing how mistakes can be made across bigger teams or time-frames. Well-intended innocent creative choices at one point in the process can cause serious trouble later. Or two independent choices can create unforeseen problems. That's the sort of experience that's least visible, and that's what experienced mentors can provide. So, I would argue that it's best to have a healthy mix - you want to see others fail, you want to fail yourself, but then you also want to have mentorship by others who have made these failures themselves. Seeing someone else make a mistake and then making that same mistake yourself can be a very valuable and humbling experience.

by atoav 3y ago

scyzoryk_xyz 3y ago

Film (production) grad here as well. A good film school program is a space where teams of people get to make all their mistakes and figure out what they're about while making horrendously flawed pieces. Everyone exits with a slightly different baggage of experience. I would add one thought here - it's not just about seeing others make mistakes, or about making the mistakes yourself. It's also about seeing how mistakes can be made across bigger teams or time-frames. Well-intended innocent creative choices at one point in the process can cause serious trouble later. Or two independent choices can create unforeseen problems. That's the sort of experience that's least visible, and that's what experienced mentors can provide. So, I would argue that it's best to have a healthy mix - you want to see others fail, you want to fail yourself, but then you also want to have mentorship by others who have made these failures themselves. Seeing someone else make a mistake and then making that same mistake yourself can be a very valuable and humbling experience.