Ask HN: How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker?

#1

Post by NewWorldOrder » Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 4:31 AM UTC

Do you rely on the input of others, or do you just trust yourself to make a fair assessment?

Re: Ask HN: How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker?

#2

Post by bootload » Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 4:45 AM UTC

"... How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker? ..."

Maybe this article (Great Hackers: Recognition) might help ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html

Re: Ask HN: How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker?

#3

Post by pmorici » Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 5:03 AM UTC

Beware the Dunning-Kruger effect

Re: Ask HN: How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker?

#4

Post by Tichy » Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 8:00 AM UTC

pmorici wrote: post #3

Beware the Dunning-Kruger effect

I like this quote from the Wikipedia article:

"Incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy."

It's such a nice formulation ;-)

Re: Ask HN: How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker?

#5

Post by ScottWhigham » Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 8:55 AM UTC

This strikes me as just a weird question; one of those, "What kind of person asks that question?" type of questions (and I mean no offense by that lol).

It's like asking, "Am I pretty/handsome?" Well, do people tell you that you are? Do you notice people that you think are pretty/handsome staring at you? If so, there's a chance you are.

Re: Ask HN: How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker?

#6

Post by NewWorldOrder » Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 5:30 PM UTC

ScottWhigham wrote: post #5

This strikes me as just a weird question; one of those, "What kind of person asks that question?" type of questions (and I mean no offense by that lol). It's like asking, "Am I pretty/handsome?" Well, do people tell you that you are? Do you notice people that you think are pretty/handsome staring at you? If so, there's a chance you are.

The question is meant in a different vein. This article http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/... suggests that people that become "great" practice deliberately over a long period of time.

Measuring how much better you're becoming is easier in some practices than in others. Assuming everybody wants to become great hackers, how can you practice deliberately such that you reach this "greatness?" Without some way of measuring how good you're becoming this is pretty difficult to do.