On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:00:24 +0100, Invisible wrote:

> I have nobody to impress anymore. :'{
> 
> (Although... I wonder how much of the praise I received was actually
> justified. Especially at college, when I was in a class full of chavs
> who went out and got drunk *every day*. They'd be hung over for the
> morning classes, and mildly drunk for the afternoon ones. Is it any
> wonder the lecturers though I was brilliant?)


Believe it or not ...

  """
  Well, I was once a prolific poster on this group, but that was
  about six years ago. Not sure what, if anything, you'd remember
  about me, but I can assure you that "believe it or not" is
  warranted.
  """

... I heard a lot of the same crap as you from my teachers, even though I 
never went to "Uni". And often from teachers, like yours, who did not 
understand the subjects they were teaching.

No, I didn't spend my time scribbling formulae into notebooks[1], but I 
was well known since grade school for my own set of tricks.

What I wonder is how destructive this praise from (molding by) 
unqualified teachers ends up being to their students.

I imagine you were encouraged to "work with computers" and that this has 
worked out decently for you, but it may be overall not an optimal fit.

I know enough programmers to know that "working with computers" means a 
lot more than figuring out clever bits of code. It's an environment and a 
lifestyle to which many clever people may not be well suited. Would Frank 
have known this?

I know from my own experience that there are many affable people I would 
not recommend become salesmen, many strong people I would not recommend 
become carpenters, many hard-working people I would not recommend become 
entrepreneurs, and many fit people I would not recommend become 
roughnecks.

And I know that I wouldn't hire you as a programmer. I would prefer 
someone, perhaps less encyclopedic, with a better work ethic; someone who 
does what he's told by the person paying him to do it and who spends less 
time on this forum; someone who's more interested in keeping the wheels 
turning than it reinventing the wheel.

I might hire you as a tech writer.

At least "working with computers" is good practical advice. (My brother 
just got his Doctorate in EE and will make a lot more money than most 
people―though I'll bet he still ends up working for someone dumber than 
himself.) How about those poor kids who are pushed into liberal arts?

 -Shay

[1] I do that now. But I'm sure I'm not reinventing the wheel, because 
what I'm trying to figure out are the subtleties of a personal "sacred 
geometry" for my pictures: NOT draw_picture() algorithms, just subtleties 
of form that I find satisfying. You really /should/ try POV-Ray.

ps. One example of some ludicrous praise I recently received: After 
hearing that I had ridden my bicycle 150 miles on the previous day, my 
wife's friend commented that I should "try" the MS-150 (A 150 miles in 
TWO days bike ride). TRY?!! TRY to ride 150 miles in two days when I'd 
just ridden it in one?!

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