Ask HN: Which role in software engineering is the best for average person? • Hacker News Board

Post by Exuma » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 2:04 PM UTC

throwaway1183 wrote: post #60

badpun wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a good counterexample to that story though. I've started coding when I was nine, have Masters in Computer Science, have worked in software for roughly 15 years (most of that coding). I've taught myself linear algebra, 3d computer vision/vSLAM from scratch, computer graphics (incl. more advanced concepts like PBR, Mesh Shaders etc.), statistics and machine learning, and probably other things I'm forgetting now. Ho…

You are really literally like me because you did the things I did. I have also dabble with them. I have also experimented with it. Only thing is I never made anything valuable. I guess I only did it for sake of learning and being happy. Conversation with Exuma has made me realize he only learns when he absolutely needs to, while I learn when I feel like learning. Then I can't also put focus. Because of inefficiencies…

To add small amount of context, I do also enjoy learning when its not a 'tool' but its a very narrow margin of the medium. For example, i've probably watched every single 3blue1brown video on youtube there is, yet I won't really use any of that. I watch them while I'm eating and any time they come out, as well as a few similar channels.

But this sort of learning is more about the purpose of stimulating my mind with challenges rather than acquiring knowledge.

80% of my time learning is when its a tool, 20% of the time its for stimulation, 100% of the time it is for some meaning other than it being satisfying to collect knowledge and facts, which is 0% of the time.