3 ms·

Sorry, nope. It's tripe peddled to high school and college students, who eat it up because, in fact, they have generally not had to make money to survive. So th

by pnathan 13y ago

Sorry, nope. It's tripe peddled to high school and college students, who eat it up because, in fact, they have generally not had to make money to survive. So they wind up in ridiculously unemployable fields that are cool and interesting to them. You also wind up - in SW development at least- with a pernicious workplace state where working more is glorifed; where the reality of business (exchange of goods for goods) is obscured by these foggy ideals and pressure is placed to demonstrate your personal devotion to the god of 'loving your job'.

johnminter 13y ago
Yup - often peddled by people with conflicts of interest - deriving their income from that education.
- pnathan 13y ago
  Honestly, I disagree with that. A lot of the time, it's people who have found a comfortable niche (often mediated by decades of experience, giving them freedom of choice which neophytes simply don't have[1]), and want to see others find that comfortable niche too too. "Speaking from privilege" is, I believe, the proper way to describe the situation. [1] This merits a digression. Suppose that your advice-giving friend is a stonemason in his 40s. At this point, he has about 20 years of experience, along with a solid professional network. He works hard, but is paid well for experience and expertise. If there is work to be had, he will likely get tapped as a lead on the job, due to his 20 years of experience. He is trusted and capable; he likes his job well enough. He advises you to follow your dreams (he has a good life and enjoys it). You decide to follow his example... Regrettably, you find in your first summer doing stonemasonary that you lack his 20 years of experience; literally are fetching and carrying, doing backbreaking work and being paid poorly. You are not trusted; you have no freedom to pick and choose, and you're the back of the line for jobs. His experience means that you have to crank down his advice to the entry level world and what that's like, not the place of experience, trust, and competence that the advisor lives in.

by pnathan 13y ago

johnminter 13y ago

Yup - often peddled by people with conflicts of interest - deriving their income from that education.

pnathan 13y ago
Honestly, I disagree with that. A lot of the time, it's people who have found a comfortable niche (often mediated by decades of experience, giving them freedom of choice which neophytes simply don't have[1]), and want to see others find that comfortable niche too too. "Speaking from privilege" is, I believe, the proper way to describe the situation. [1] This merits a digression. Suppose that your advice-giving friend is a stonemason in his 40s. At this point, he has about 20 years of experience, along with a solid professional network. He works hard, but is paid well for experience and expertise. If there is work to be had, he will likely get tapped as a lead on the job, due to his 20 years of experience. He is trusted and capable; he likes his job well enough. He advises you to follow your dreams (he has a good life and enjoys it). You decide to follow his example... Regrettably, you find in your first summer doing stonemasonary that you lack his 20 years of experience; literally are fetching and carrying, doing backbreaking work and being paid poorly. You are not trusted; you have no freedom to pick and choose, and you're the back of the line for jobs. His experience means that you have to crank down his advice to the entry level world and what that's like, not the place of experience, trust, and competence that the advisor lives in.