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Learning to code at 56

medium.freecodecamp.com

121–130 of 165 posts

Re: Learning to code at 56

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference is that credentials as a doctor, lawyer, dentist, chiropractor, etc. tend to be all-encompassing for those professions. In software, credentialing is extremely narrow (i.e. credentials for subsets of Cisco's offerings, or Microsoft's). Other than college degrees, there really isn't any type of broad credentialing available in the computer industry. Credentials are also short-lived. Does anybody…

C.N.E no, I don't think it ever mattered. An R.N., however...

+1 See? I rest my case.

(C.N.E. = Certified Novell Engineer, but who would know that nowadays, or care?)

Re: Learning to code at 56

#123
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this. :( My ability to stop working for The Man and start my own company has been severely hampered by the need to pay my mortgage and kids in college and stuff.

Trust me when I say that this is all fear. Multiple times I have uprooted family despite all discomfort, odds, safety nets, etc. to pursue a passion. First it was moving out of state to attend graduate school. Second, it was leaving a 6 figure career to pursue my dream. Downsizing was necessary. I had to question my values about money, things, accumulation, happiness. NEVER sell yourself short. If you are passionate…

Depends on your family. I kinda want to stay married, which limits my forward acceleration. It's a matter of finding the right compromise point. Didn't say it was going to be easy!

Re: Learning to code at 56

#124
post #103

This appears to be an Ad for free code camp (not that there's anything wrong with that). Just ten years younger in a similar boat, I'm neither taking a boot camp, nor writing about my "CIS". To each their own. Learning is a life long activity. It shouldn't matter what one learns at any age.

It's hosted by "freecodecamp.com". Yes, of course it's going to be an ad for their offerings, if only in the sense of making them look good. This is kinda like objecting that Google blog posts are really ads for Google. "News is something someone doesn't want you to learn about. All else is propaganda."

Nice quote!

I qualified my comment by adding this . :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGAyQAkXajg

So, there was no objection.

Re: Learning to code at 56

#125
post #39

At 51, I've noticed there are really two kinds of people at my age... people who are completely beaten, and people who are winning. Once you hit 40 or so, the scope of mortality really hits you. You realize that you've probably already had half your productive life, maybe half a career. You start seeing peers die of "old age" - heart attacks and strokes and stuff. For most, they're beaten, defeated. They decide this…

That's a bit simplistic. Certainly there are people who defeated and bitter due to shallowness and lack of imagination vs those with the will and wisdom to pursue their objectives effectively. But it seems to me that you're identifying a philosophical dichotomy within your professional class.

But besides the philosophical divide, people are sorted by circumstantial conditions, depending on what good/bad luck they've had, decisions they've made, and economic situations they've experienced. Life might force people to choose between supporting their family and pursuing their dreams, or their dreams might depend on capital or social resources that they have no idea how to acquire, or they might be saddled with some burdensome health condition.

It's not simply a matter of having failed to make a necessary psychological adjustment to take charge of one's own life. There are lots of people out there that are fully aware of their situation and poorly positioned to do anything about it.

Re: Learning to code at 56

#126
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

credentialism - the best way of inflating wages with artificial scarcity,

why is it artificial? Credentials are everywhere. You need credentials to be an account, a physician, a teacher, a lawyer, a dentist, a chiropractor, a (insert various iteration of crazy welding techniques) welder, a steel fabricator (AISC), a child services worker, heavy machinery operator, if you are an engineer and want to work for the public, you have to get licensed, and the list can go on and on. And I am reall…

The credentials you mention fall into three kinds:

1. Credentials Legally Required: Lawyers, Doctors, etc.

Credentials and accredited schooling are required in these disciplines because they involve specialized knowledge AND because misuse or malpractice can seriously hurt people. Even then, there's plenty of cartel-like behavior going on. For example, the U.S. system of accrediting lawyers (three years of graduate school plus bar exam) is almost certainly overkill.

2. Specialized Technical Skills: Welders, Trades

Welding, fabricating, etc. require specialized skills and knowledge. These skills are taught in trade schools and through apprenticeships, not four-year colleges. The credentials are usually not LEGALLY required to work in the area - you can hire a welder who doesn't have one - but in practice, you want to hire people with the credentials because they probably know what they're doing.

3. Non-Technical Skills: Teachers, Social Workers

Teachers, child services workers, etc. Here I think the argument for credentials is the weakest. Why do we NEED accredited teachers? For centuries we've had teachers who never had one, and even now, many private schools don't require credentials. In fact, some of the best teachers I had in school never had teaching degrees - they had degrees and experience in the relevant field (say, chemistry) and came to teach. In fact, in some of these fields, the credentials are attempts to form bars to entry, thus protecting the existing members of the profession - just why do we need school + certificates for hair dressers?

So where does software engineering fall? I think the second category is where it belongs, and bootcamps are attempts to create the kind of technical training / apprenticeship that exists in the trades. That doesn't mean official CS degrees are worthless - far from it - but it also means that we don't need any bars to entry for people who decided to learn coding in another way.

Re: Learning to code at 56

#127
post #39

At 51, I've noticed there are really two kinds of people at my age... people who are completely beaten, and people who are winning. Once you hit 40 or so, the scope of mortality really hits you. You realize that you've probably already had half your productive life, maybe half a career. You start seeing peers die of "old age" - heart attacks and strokes and stuff. For most, they're beaten, defeated. They decide this…

I've always thought of it this way. There are the people who want to "Be" something (writer, entrepreneur, etc) and those who want to "Have Been" something. The ones who want to have been always seem to be the ones who turn out to be not what they wanted because they've spent all their time thinking about how great it'll have been to be something than actually doing what they should have done to have been something.…

Totally. I think of this as "people who want to do something", and "people who want to be someone."

Re: Learning to code at 56

#128
post #39

At 51, I've noticed there are really two kinds of people at my age... people who are completely beaten, and people who are winning. Once you hit 40 or so, the scope of mortality really hits you. You realize that you've probably already had half your productive life, maybe half a career. You start seeing peers die of "old age" - heart attacks and strokes and stuff. For most, they're beaten, defeated. They decide this…

> They decide this is all there is, and they're going to ride out their remaining years doing as little as possible other than wallowing in regret and yelling at kids to get off their damn lawn. It's sad and terrible.

Am 36 and on this road; can confirm.

Re: Learning to code at 56

#129
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this. :( My ability to stop working for The Man and start my own company has been severely hampered by the need to pay my mortgage and kids in college and stuff.

Trust me when I say that this is all fear. Multiple times I have uprooted family despite all discomfort, odds, safety nets, etc. to pursue a passion. First it was moving out of state to attend graduate school. Second, it was leaving a 6 figure career to pursue my dream. Downsizing was necessary. I had to question my values about money, things, accumulation, happiness. NEVER sell yourself short. If you are passionate…

You have had a very supportive family, as well as rich opportunities. Congratulations.

Re: Learning to code at 56

#130
I really wish that life-long learning would be assumed and encouraged on a societal level. Even if it's something that is currently not seen as "productive".

I wonder what my older relatives and acquaintances would've want to learn, or work with, without the chains of economical reality.

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