Why Programming is Difficult • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Programming is Difficult

#171

Post by lutusp » Sun, Feb 09, 2014, 2:23 AM UTC

truthteller wrote: post #162

lutusp wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... without even doing basic research first? If self-reference were a disease, you would be in an emergency room. You know nothing about me or the research I have conducted, apart from the fact that your argument represents an all-too-common logical error. > the opinions of ignorant journalists are not really relevant. > it was strongly criticized by experts in the relevant area. So, which is it? Did journalists de…

at this point you are just embarrassing yourself with your weird crusade attack "psychologists and supporters". I'm sure most readers in this forum feel intuitively that mental ability can be measured with some accuracy, so I doubt you will convince many people. and anyone who cares to look will find a vast psychometric literature that supports the validity of IQ.

> I doubt you will convince many people.

I don't need to. The director of the NIMH already agrees with me, and high-level policy changes are under way to permanently change the status of psychiatry and psychology, demote them to the status of astrology. Didn't you get the memo?

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/05/the-s...

> ... anyone who cares to look will find a vast psychometric literature that supports the validity of IQ.

Yes, that works for people suffering from a bad case of confirmation bias, and who can't grasp basic scientific principles. The rest of us will continue practicing science and advocating in favor of neuroscience as psychology's obvious replacement.

IQ testing will become valid only when it is based on science rather than anecdote. Assuming that ever happens.

Re: Why Programming is Difficult

#172

Post by kyllo » Mon, Feb 10, 2014, 3:43 PM UTC

slaman wrote: post #159

kyllo wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the kid has been contributing to open source projects? It seems like there are a lot of teenagers sending pull requests to prominent Github repos these days.

It's possible to have experience, but 'work' experience on a resume implies professional (paid) time. Which in most places is illegal at 11 years, so it comes across to me as resumé padding.

It's perfectly fair and legal to claim unpaid, open source programming experience on a resume.

The comment I was replying to didn't say "professional experience," just "programming experience." I was responding to this:

This is why, when I see 22-year-old kids in interviews claiming 10 years of programming experience, that's a negative signal for me

Re: Why Programming is Difficult

#173

Post by pessimizer » Mon, Feb 10, 2014, 5:27 PM UTC

bluedino wrote: post #109

gaius wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why, when I see 22-year-old kids in interviews claiming 10 years of programming experience, that's a negative signal for me. Commercial programming is solving problems you didn't choose, in a language that's not your favourite, using existing code you didn't write, for people you would never have met outside the job, in less time than you would like. In most real situations writing the code is the easy part,…

As long as you're creating something, what's the difference? Are you not an artist if you've only painted things for your own enjoyment, and never any commissioned worrk?

More like: are you not an auto mechanic if you've only worked on your own car, tricking it out in ways that you enjoy?

No, you are not an auto mechanic.

Re: Why Programming is Difficult

#174

Post by pessimizer » Mon, Feb 10, 2014, 5:37 PM UTC

defen wrote: post #152

lutusp wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "the mismeasure of man" is a garbage book by the noted fraud and liar steven jay gould. When you post like this, do you ever stop to think how you're making psychology and its supporters look? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mismeasure_of_Man#Awards Quote: "The first edition of The Mismeasure of Man won the non-fiction award from the National Book Critics Circle; the Outstanding Book Award for 1983 from the Americ…

Most of the stuff in The Mismeasure of Man regarding Morton's skull research was wrong. http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjour...

For anybody reading this in the future, "truthteller" isn't the voice of reason in this thread, he/she is a troll.

The link above by defens is a legitimate criticism of The Mismeasure of Man and is well worth reading. It doesn't speak to the overarching theme of the book, which is it's attack on the goals and the content of intelligence testing, but to a mischaracterization that Gould made of the conclusions of someone else's research, turning them into a bit of a straw man representing subconscious testing bias. It definitely weakens Gould's case in that regard.

The book is still an amazing hidden history.

Re: Why Programming is Difficult

#175

Post by lutusp » Mon, Feb 10, 2014, 5:49 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #174

defen wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the stuff in The Mismeasure of Man regarding Morton's skull research was wrong. http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjour...

For anybody reading this in the future, "truthteller" isn't the voice of reason in this thread, he/she is a troll. The link above by defens is a legitimate criticism of The Mismeasure of Man and is well worth reading. It doesn't speak to the overarching theme of the book, which is it's attack on the goals and the content of intelligence testing, but to a mischaracterization that Gould made of the conclusions of someo…

> The link above by defens is a legitimate criticism of The Mismeasure of Man and is well worth reading.

I agree completely -- the Gould book was an important contribution to the debate about IQ testing, and it contained a number of errors. Both of the above statements are true -- indeed, it's rare for such an important work of this scope to be error-free.

It's my hope that, as psychology is replaced by neuroscience (a process now under way), the role of opinions will be substantially replaced by scientific evidence, which until now has been in deplorably short supply in this field.