3 ms·

I remember John Carmack talking about this last year. Seems like it's still pretty good advice more than a year later: "From a DM, just in case anyone else nee

I remember John Carmack talking about this last year. Seems like it's still pretty good advice more than a year later: "From a DM, just in case anyone else needs to hear this." https://x.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1637087219591659520 https://x.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1637087219591659520

randall 2y ago
This is by far the best advice I've seen.
- archagon 2y ago
  Except I suspect that Carmack would not be where he is today without a burning intellectual draw to programming in particular.
  - yodsanklai 2y ago
    Exactly... I read "masters of doom" and Carmack didn't strike me as the product guy who cares about people needs. He was more like a coding machine.
    - watt 2y ago
      In "Rocket Jump: Quake and the Golden Age of First-Person Shooters" id guys figure out that their product is the cutting-edge graphics, and being first, and are able to pull that off for a while. Their games were not great, but the product was idTech engines. With Rage however (id Tech 5) the streak ran cold.
    - indigoabstract 2y ago
      Yet, they were able to find a market for their products. He knew both how to code and what to code. Ultima Underword was technologically superior to Wolfenstein 3D. System Shock was technologically superior to Doom and a much better game for my taste. I also think it has aged better. Doom, Wolf 3D and Quake were less sophisticated, but kicked ass. They captured the spirit of the times and people loved it. They're still pretty good games too, 30 years later.
throwaway_43793 2y ago
It's a good advice indeed. But there is a slight problem with it. Young people can learn and fight for their place in the workforce, but what is left for older people like myself? I'm in this industry already, I might have missed the train of "learn to talk with people" and been sold on the "coding is a means to an end" koolaid. My employability is already damaged due to my age and experience. What is left for people like myself? How can I compete with a 20 something years old who has sharper memory, more free time (due to lack of obligations like family/relationships), who got the right advice from Carmack in the beginning of his career?
- Rotundo 2y ago
  The 20-year-old is, maybe, just like you at that age: eager and smart, but lacking experience. Making bad decisions, bad designs, bad implementations left and right. Just like you did, way back when. But you have made all those mistakes already. You've learned, you've earned your experience. You are much more valuable than you think. Source: Me, I'm almost 60, been programming since I was 12.
  - throwaway_43793 2y ago
    I think the idea of meritocracy has died in me. I wish I could be rewarded for my knowledge and expertise, but it seems that capitalism, as in maximizing profit, has won above everything else.
    - atemerev 2y ago
      You are rewarded for something that is useful to the market, i.e. to other people (useful enough so they agree to pay you money for it). If something you know is no longer useful, you will not be rewarded. It was true 100 years ago, it was true 20 years ago, and it is true now.
- indigoabstract 2y ago
  It's good advice, but not easy to follow, since knowing what to do and doing it are very different things. I think that what he means is that how successful we are in work is closely related to our contributions, or to the perceived "value" we bring to other people. The current gen AI isn't the end of programmers. What matters is still what people want and are willing to pay for and how can we contribute to fulfill that need. You are right that young folks have the time and energy to work more than older ones and for less money. And they can soak up knowledge like a sponge. That's their strong point and older folks cannot really compete with that. You (and everyone else) have to find your own strong point, your "niche" so to speak. We're all different, so I'm pretty sure that what you like and are good at is not what I like and I'm good at and vice-versa. All the greats, like Steve Jobs and so on said that you've got to love what you do. Follow your intuition. That may even be something that you dreamed about in your childhood. Anything that you really want to do and makes you feel fulfilled. I don't think you can get to any good place while disliking what you do for a living. That said, all this advice can seem daunting and unfeasible when you're not in a good place in life. But worrying only makes it worse. If you can see yourself in a better light and as having something valuable to contribute, things would start looking better. This is solvable. Have faith!

randall 2y ago

This is by far the best advice I've seen.

archagon 2y ago
Except I suspect that Carmack would not be where he is today without a burning intellectual draw to programming in particular.
- yodsanklai 2y ago
  Exactly... I read "masters of doom" and Carmack didn't strike me as the product guy who cares about people needs. He was more like a coding machine.
  - watt 2y ago
    In "Rocket Jump: Quake and the Golden Age of First-Person Shooters" id guys figure out that their product is the cutting-edge graphics, and being first, and are able to pull that off for a while. Their games were not great, but the product was idTech engines. With Rage however (id Tech 5) the streak ran cold.
  - indigoabstract 2y ago
    Yet, they were able to find a market for their products. He knew both how to code and what to code. Ultima Underword was technologically superior to Wolfenstein 3D. System Shock was technologically superior to Doom and a much better game for my taste. I also think it has aged better. Doom, Wolf 3D and Quake were less sophisticated, but kicked ass. They captured the spirit of the times and people loved it. They're still pretty good games too, 30 years later.

throwaway_43793 2y ago

It's a good advice indeed. But there is a slight problem with it. Young people can learn and fight for their place in the workforce, but what is left for older people like myself? I'm in this industry already, I might have missed the train of "learn to talk with people" and been sold on the "coding is a means to an end" koolaid. My employability is already damaged due to my age and experience. What is left for people like myself? How can I compete with a 20 something years old who has sharper memory, more free time (due to lack of obligations like family/relationships), who got the right advice from Carmack in the beginning of his career?

Rotundo 2y ago
The 20-year-old is, maybe, just like you at that age: eager and smart, but lacking experience. Making bad decisions, bad designs, bad implementations left and right. Just like you did, way back when. But you have made all those mistakes already. You've learned, you've earned your experience. You are much more valuable than you think. Source: Me, I'm almost 60, been programming since I was 12.
- throwaway_43793 2y ago
  I think the idea of meritocracy has died in me. I wish I could be rewarded for my knowledge and expertise, but it seems that capitalism, as in maximizing profit, has won above everything else.
  - atemerev 2y ago
    You are rewarded for something that is useful to the market, i.e. to other people (useful enough so they agree to pay you money for it). If something you know is no longer useful, you will not be rewarded. It was true 100 years ago, it was true 20 years ago, and it is true now.
indigoabstract 2y ago
It's good advice, but not easy to follow, since knowing what to do and doing it are very different things. I think that what he means is that how successful we are in work is closely related to our contributions, or to the perceived "value" we bring to other people. The current gen AI isn't the end of programmers. What matters is still what people want and are willing to pay for and how can we contribute to fulfill that need. You are right that young folks have the time and energy to work more than older ones and for less money. And they can soak up knowledge like a sponge. That's their strong point and older folks cannot really compete with that. You (and everyone else) have to find your own strong point, your "niche" so to speak. We're all different, so I'm pretty sure that what you like and are good at is not what I like and I'm good at and vice-versa. All the greats, like Steve Jobs and so on said that you've got to love what you do. Follow your intuition. That may even be something that you dreamed about in your childhood. Anything that you really want to do and makes you feel fulfilled. I don't think you can get to any good place while disliking what you do for a living. That said, all this advice can seem daunting and unfeasible when you're not in a good place in life. But worrying only makes it worse. If you can see yourself in a better light and as having something valuable to contribute, things would start looking better. This is solvable. Have faith!