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I don't think that a K-12 school for hackers would work especially well. That said, it would be nice if schools stopped practices that almost seem to deliberat
by geebee 19y ago
I don't think that a K-12 school for hackers would work especially well. That said, it would be nice if schools stopped practices that almost seem to deliberately extinguish hacking and startups. Schools teach you that you need to ask permission to do things. It isn't until you get to college that you don't have to ask permission anymore.
Hackers and entrepreneurs become who they are by realizing that they don't have to ask anyone's permission.
I remember learning violin when I was a kid. If I played something that wasn't on my "to-do" list, my parents would call upstairs "are you practicing, or just messing around?"
I read that Andre 3000 used the three chords in "Hey Ya" because, well, he'd just recently picked up the guitar and those were the three chords he knew. Didn't ask any permission, just started composing.
Recently, I saw a dude in a coffee shop with a guitar, and he was technically awesome. It was fun to stop and listen for a few minutes, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you what he was playing five minutes later.
Schools don't really teach creativity, and I don't think they can. But they might do a better job getting out of the way.
- rms 19y agoI had one teacher in public school, in fifth grade, who insisted you didn't need to ask permission to go to the bathroom. I didn't get that much freedom again until I got to college.
- geebee 19y agoI have a two year old, and I'm not sure I like the subversive influence of Thomas the Train. It's teaching him that being useful and reliable is the most important thing an engine can be. The engines all wait for Sir Topam Hat to show up at the station with a task for them. Once, Thomas the Train didn't like the task, and started to object... "Really useful engines don't argue," says Sir Topam Hat. So Thomas goes off and does the task. Personally, I agree that really useful engines don't argue. Why would they bother bringing this dude around to their point of view, when they have so many other options in life? Anyway, I think a lot of these stories date back to a time when the US economy really needed a lot of strong arms and backs that didn't argue. Try to manage programmers like that now :) Actually, try to have that career now as a hacker. You may get to limp along with a task list for a while, but no way are you getting anywhere with that approach. It's not just about startups - I doubt you'd even get hired for anything remotely promising. Won't work, not a chance. The last thing I want to give my kid is a set of values that will make it impossible to thrive in a modern economy.