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Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#91

Post by timr »

nostrademons wrote: post #58
johnrob wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starting early certainly isn't a requisite, but it can be a pretty big advantage in most fields.

The big advantage is that you can get to your mid-20s with 10 years of experience and lots of practice, and then be mentally ready without having the commitments of a house, wife, kids, mortgage, etc. tying you down. You can get those same advantages by delaying dating & childbirth until later in life, although then you sacrifice in that your kids may never know their grandparents.

When it comes to software, I don't think starting age matters that much, except perhaps on the margins. The field changes too quickly for amateur technical experience from 10+ years ago to have much of an impact on quality. The kind of experience that ages well is the kind that you can't easily get as a teenager with a Linux install.

Also, every time I interview someone, I ask them how they got into programming. So far, there's been no strong correlation between quality and years of experience. The people who started programming in elementary school are just as likely to be crappy as those who didn't start until college.

The strongest predictor I've seen for engineer quality is college GPA. People who work hard and get things done also tend to get good grades.

Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#92

Post by jberryman »

ryan-allen wrote: post #14

I wouldn't stay it stuffed up my life, but I wish I hadn't listened to it: "Music is a hobby." I'm catching up though.

Maybe that's just what you needed to hear! you probably have a greater understanding of what music means in your life than someone who went to a conservatory straight out of highschool or made it big in a band without trying.

Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#95

Post by pbhjpbhj »

Vivtek wrote: post #21
Wilduck wrote: post #10

"You're smart." It took me five years of coasting on that presumption before I realized that being "smart" isn't nearly enough. I'm still working (after a few more years) to develop the habits that would have come from hearing "you're a hard worker."

Man, I have to second that one. Growing up smart in a small town is great until you leave - which is inevitable.

I got the best exam grades in my town on leaving school - uni hit hard.

Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#96

Post by SkyMarshal »

johnrob wrote: post #32

It didn't mess up my life, but when I was in high school the conventional wisdom was that being well rounded helped you get into good colleges. I spent a lot of time playing team sports and the saxophone; neither of those are hobbies of mine today. I wish I had spent some of that time doing something that would still be relevant to me today, like programming (there are a LOT of successful founders that started progra…

That's a good one. What colleges are really looking for is:

1. Expertise in something the college values. For Ivy Leagues and the like, that's usually something academic or artistic. For military academies, that's leadership. Athletics for some schools, though you've gotta be world class or clearly heading there.

2. Good grades (unless you're going for a sports scholarship)

3. A few interesting extra-curriculars to show you can 'multitask' and aren't completely 1 dimensional.

But many parents seem to over-emphasize #3 to the detriment of #1 and #2. If you take them seriously you'll find yourself a jack of many trades, master of none. But it's the masters of particular trades/crafts/domains/knowledge these days that are irreplaceable, un-interchangeable, and who make the advances that push the human race forward, not the jacks.

And the ability to truly master something is difficult, a skill in and of itself. Those who develop that skill early in life will have a significant advantage over those who don't.

So if you find yourself trying to do all three and struggling to keep all those balls in the air, don't be afraid to drop #3. It's expendable.

Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#97

Post by julsonl »

johnrob wrote: post #32

It didn't mess up my life, but when I was in high school the conventional wisdom was that being well rounded helped you get into good colleges. I spent a lot of time playing team sports and the saxophone; neither of those are hobbies of mine today. I wish I had spent some of that time doing something that would still be relevant to me today, like programming (there are a LOT of successful founders that started progra…

I sort of value well-roundedness even into adult life. Sure, I didn't morph into a programming genius that spits out code in his sleep, but I do think time spent playing sports and hanging around with friends sort of saved me from being less introverted and shy than I could have been.

There are times that I envy young, successful founders running companies worth millions, laser-focused on their goals from childhood to adulthood, but then again I sort of do a double-take and think: They couldn't have been this awesome without missing some important aspects (to me anyway) of life. Aspects like falling in love, winning a girl's heart, getting into trouble, exploring new places, learning a musical instrument and hanging out with people with different interests and intelligence (street smart or artsy types). I mean, you can only be young once (and of course, your hormones would only be THIS active once).

Most of this will be considered a massive waste of time for some people (I certainly considered all my years spent playing games a waste. Damnit.). Still moderation is key.

Oh, I didn't start seriously programming until I went to college, and life didn't turn out so bad. (Still, no million-dollar company under my name though =()

Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#98

Post by pbhjpbhj »

drpancake wrote: post #66

My parents: "Economics is where the money is; don't switch to Computer Science" Glad I ignored that one. At universities in the UK, you choose a degree at the beginning then that's it.

That's not true of all institutions in the UK - you can transfer credits between Unis and you can change courses with in them too. Some courses are harder to switch between for sure. After 2 years of Uni (4year course) I had option still to graduate in 3 different faculties.

Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#99

Post by rfrey »

j_baker wrote: post #82
rfrey wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it doesn't. Introverts are perfectly capable of overcoming their personality tendencies. Introversion or extraversion refer to your natural inclination, but it determines nothing.

Back up a minute... "Introverts are perfectly capable of overcoming their personality tendencies." The first thing you're assuming is that introverts either want or need to overcome their introversion. There isn't anything wrong with being an introvert. There is something wrong with being an extreme introvert.

The first thing you're assuming is that introverts either want or need to overcome their introversion

I certainly did not mean to say that. I don't believe it. What I said was that introverts are capable of overcoming their tendencies. They're tendencies, not fate.

The commenter a few levels above said they had a great time at parties; the comment I responded to said that sounded like a shy extrovert. Not so, say I: introverts can have fun at parties too, even ones where they don't know anybody.

No value judgement intended in any direction. I'm a strong introvert who does well at parties because I need to for my work; but it's difficult and I don't have fun.

Re: Ask HN: What advice messed up your life?

#100

Post by jraines »

"Houses always go up in value" -- paraphrase of David Allen's "Automatic Millionaire Homeowner" which convinced me to buy a place in Atlanta in 2005. Could've been a lot worse, but taking on a mortgage & furnishing a place at 23 was not the best idea.
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