What Is Your Most Valuable Life Skill?
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As software developers, I think we can agree that our coding skills are universally applicable. In my experience, there have been more than a few instances where my work has evoked comments from others expressing disbelief. It's funny because you hear the same things over and over again. "Woah, how did you do that?", and "Where did you learn to do that?", and of course the "You suck" comments. Knowing how to code is certainly a very valuable life skill to have. But, what about other skills? In what other areas do you have knowledge or experience with? What are they, and how do you use them? How are they of benefit to you? Is it worthwhile for others to learn these skills? Why, or why not?
treating my Κώδικαςέργοπαράξενοςαίθουσααναμονήςσυζήτησηφοβία . also Sitting .
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As a computer engineer, I assume every other computer engineer is as competent. That said, one inherited habit and one acquired, persistence and humility should be deemed essential. In the pursuit of happiness, life throws many curve balls, so sometimes you have to do what's necessary to outlive a situation. Gotta eat and sleep before you conquer the world.
Juan Pablo Reyes Altamirano wrote:
As a computer engineer, I assume every other computer engineer is as competent.
That's the Dunning Kruger effect[^] Most people who know about this effect know that is is associated with people who have a bit of knowledge/experience incorrectly thinking that they know a lot, the converse is also part of this effect in that those who know a lot assume that others know/understand a lot on a particular area too.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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As software developers, I think we can agree that our coding skills are universally applicable. In my experience, there have been more than a few instances where my work has evoked comments from others expressing disbelief. It's funny because you hear the same things over and over again. "Woah, how did you do that?", and "Where did you learn to do that?", and of course the "You suck" comments. Knowing how to code is certainly a very valuable life skill to have. But, what about other skills? In what other areas do you have knowledge or experience with? What are they, and how do you use them? How are they of benefit to you? Is it worthwhile for others to learn these skills? Why, or why not?
Just saw this thread now. For me, they seem to be: Ability to explain things in simple language, of course, in my native Kannada language. For example, i recently mentored a girl in middle school, who was getting about 50 percent score in her elementary maths, and now she is consistently scoring more than 90 percent. All in a three month period. Motivating others. For example, I recently motivated an Indian student studying for his Master's in the US, and he successfully completed his first semester.
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Juan Pablo Reyes Altamirano wrote:
As a computer engineer, I assume every other computer engineer is as competent.
That's the Dunning Kruger effect[^] Most people who know about this effect know that is is associated with people who have a bit of knowledge/experience incorrectly thinking that they know a lot, the converse is also part of this effect in that those who know a lot assume that others know/understand a lot on a particular area too.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
GuyThiebaut wrote:
That's the Dunning Kruger effect[^] Most people who know about this effect know that is is associated with people who have a bit of knowledge/experience incorrectly thinking that they know a lot, the converse is also part of this effect in that those who know a lot assume that others know/understand a lot on a particular area too.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is also correlated to scores on IQ tests. Lack of education, or should I say willful ignorance, seems to be consistently accompanied by audacious arrogance. Some people are convinced they have knowledge and understanding far beyond that of anyone who has earned a doctorate from MIT. Several of my family members are evangelical Christians. They scoff at education. They believe whatever their church pastor says -- no matter how nonsensical it is -- to be the absolute truth. Any time one of these family members visits a medical doctor, they return home and preach to anyone within hearing distance about how "doctors don't know anything" in addition to all sorts of other verbal lambasting. They dictate that medical science is the work of the devil, vaccination is a conspiracy, fluoride is poisonous, pharmaceutical companies are sinister, baseless natural "cures" eliminate incurable diseases, and the list goes on... Each time, I ask these people the same question. Why would you suppose that any person who has studied medicine for 7+ years irrefutably knows nothing? Does medical school unconditionally rob all of its graduates of knowledge in science and medicine? If that's the case, then it must mean that to be a good doctor, one must have completed as little education as possible. Only the people who are thoroughly indoctrinated by religion and entirely brainwashed by the church believe they are the authority on truth. When the conversation inevitably turns to statements such as "I learned on Youtube", or "The people at church say...", I realize that all hope is lost and I walk away.
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Just saw this thread now. For me, they seem to be: Ability to explain things in simple language, of course, in my native Kannada language. For example, i recently mentored a girl in middle school, who was getting about 50 percent score in her elementary maths, and now she is consistently scoring more than 90 percent. All in a three month period. Motivating others. For example, I recently motivated an Indian student studying for his Master's in the US, and he successfully completed his first semester.
Amarnath S wrote:
For example, i recently mentored a girl in middle school, who was getting about 50 percent score in her elementary maths, and now she is consistently scoring more than 90 percent. All in a three month period. Motivating others. For example, I recently motivated an Indian student studying for his Master's in the US, and he successfully completed his first semester.
I think your efforts to educate and motivate others are admirable. You're making the world a better place for everyone. :thumbsup:
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GuyThiebaut wrote:
That's the Dunning Kruger effect[^] Most people who know about this effect know that is is associated with people who have a bit of knowledge/experience incorrectly thinking that they know a lot, the converse is also part of this effect in that those who know a lot assume that others know/understand a lot on a particular area too.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is also correlated to scores on IQ tests. Lack of education, or should I say willful ignorance, seems to be consistently accompanied by audacious arrogance. Some people are convinced they have knowledge and understanding far beyond that of anyone who has earned a doctorate from MIT. Several of my family members are evangelical Christians. They scoff at education. They believe whatever their church pastor says -- no matter how nonsensical it is -- to be the absolute truth. Any time one of these family members visits a medical doctor, they return home and preach to anyone within hearing distance about how "doctors don't know anything" in addition to all sorts of other verbal lambasting. They dictate that medical science is the work of the devil, vaccination is a conspiracy, fluoride is poisonous, pharmaceutical companies are sinister, baseless natural "cures" eliminate incurable diseases, and the list goes on... Each time, I ask these people the same question. Why would you suppose that any person who has studied medicine for 7+ years irrefutably knows nothing? Does medical school unconditionally rob all of its graduates of knowledge in science and medicine? If that's the case, then it must mean that to be a good doctor, one must have completed as little education as possible. Only the people who are thoroughly indoctrinated by religion and entirely brainwashed by the church believe they are the authority on truth. When the conversation inevitably turns to statements such as "I learned on Youtube", or "The people at church say...", I realize that all hope is lost and I walk away.
Steve Raw wrote:
Lack of education, or should I say willful ignorance, seems to be consistently accompanied by audacious arrogance. Some people are convinced they have knowledge and understanding far beyond that of anyone who has earned a doctorate from MIT.
Studies have demonstrated that lack of education is probably not a factor in that. Magazines of 'Skeptic' and 'Skeptical Inquirer' have published numerous articles of studies that attempt to demonstrate correlations. Those will little education seems somewhat more resistant to wild claims. As an example affluent educated people also have their own beliefs about vaccines being dangerous.
Steve Raw wrote:
Only the people who are thoroughly indoctrinated by religion and entirely brainwashed by the church believe they are the authority on truth
That is a generalization. There does seem to be some correlation between mystical beliefs of any kind and more acceptance of conspiracy theories. But not necessarily a specific conspiracy theory. Whether that leads to anything else has not been shown.
Steve Raw wrote:
Each time, I ask these people the same question.
There are now numerous studies that show that attempting to prove or worse belittle others beliefs not only does not change their view but rather increases their belief. The best process seems to be to accept their views, which means understanding them, then talking them through to a point where those views provide a contradiction that those people themselves recognize. So you can't just point it out. Rather you must lead them to discover it themselves.
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Steve Raw wrote:
Lack of education, or should I say willful ignorance, seems to be consistently accompanied by audacious arrogance. Some people are convinced they have knowledge and understanding far beyond that of anyone who has earned a doctorate from MIT.
Studies have demonstrated that lack of education is probably not a factor in that. Magazines of 'Skeptic' and 'Skeptical Inquirer' have published numerous articles of studies that attempt to demonstrate correlations. Those will little education seems somewhat more resistant to wild claims. As an example affluent educated people also have their own beliefs about vaccines being dangerous.
Steve Raw wrote:
Only the people who are thoroughly indoctrinated by religion and entirely brainwashed by the church believe they are the authority on truth
That is a generalization. There does seem to be some correlation between mystical beliefs of any kind and more acceptance of conspiracy theories. But not necessarily a specific conspiracy theory. Whether that leads to anything else has not been shown.
Steve Raw wrote:
Each time, I ask these people the same question.
There are now numerous studies that show that attempting to prove or worse belittle others beliefs not only does not change their view but rather increases their belief. The best process seems to be to accept their views, which means understanding them, then talking them through to a point where those views provide a contradiction that those people themselves recognize. So you can't just point it out. Rather you must lead them to discover it themselves.
jschell wrote:
That is a generalization.
LOL. Okay, you got me there. Sweeping generalizations are a thought fallacy. While that statement may not be entirely true, it can't be discounted as false. As for my experience, having grown up attending church and private Christian school, I cannot deny what I have experienced.
jschell wrote:
Studies have demonstrated that lack of education is probably not a factor in that. Magazines of 'Skeptic' and 'Skeptical Inquirer' have published numerous articles of studies that attempt to demonstrate correlations. Those will little education seems somewhat more resistant to wild claims.
I've never heard of such studies. I'm not familiar with those magazines. Studies that confirm what I'm saying here provide strong evidence to support my argument. What's the evidence for the counterargument?
jschell wrote:
There are now numerous studies that show that attempting to prove or worse belittle others beliefs not only does not change their view but rather increases their belief.
Exactly. But, here's the thing. I'm belittled by them. It's that moral superiority complex that makes them so condescending. I can't argue otherwise.
jschell wrote:
The best process seems to be to accept their views, which means understanding them, then talking them through to a point where those views provide a contradiction that those people themselves recognize. So you can't just point it out. Rather you must lead them to discover it themselves.
That may work in many cases. I can't speak for others, but in my family, I've done my best to acknowledge their beliefs and did just as you said. Long ago, I learned how they weaponize religion to gain as much power and control over others as possible. When they have power, they abuse it. Just because someone is Christian, that doesn't necessarily mean they are good people. Some of the most malicious people I've ever known attend church regularly, read their bible, and do an excellent job fooling the world with the facade they create to hide their true nature. Some of my family members serve as excellent examples for this.
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jschell wrote:
That is a generalization.
LOL. Okay, you got me there. Sweeping generalizations are a thought fallacy. While that statement may not be entirely true, it can't be discounted as false. As for my experience, having grown up attending church and private Christian school, I cannot deny what I have experienced.
jschell wrote:
Studies have demonstrated that lack of education is probably not a factor in that. Magazines of 'Skeptic' and 'Skeptical Inquirer' have published numerous articles of studies that attempt to demonstrate correlations. Those will little education seems somewhat more resistant to wild claims.
I've never heard of such studies. I'm not familiar with those magazines. Studies that confirm what I'm saying here provide strong evidence to support my argument. What's the evidence for the counterargument?
jschell wrote:
There are now numerous studies that show that attempting to prove or worse belittle others beliefs not only does not change their view but rather increases their belief.
Exactly. But, here's the thing. I'm belittled by them. It's that moral superiority complex that makes them so condescending. I can't argue otherwise.
jschell wrote:
The best process seems to be to accept their views, which means understanding them, then talking them through to a point where those views provide a contradiction that those people themselves recognize. So you can't just point it out. Rather you must lead them to discover it themselves.
That may work in many cases. I can't speak for others, but in my family, I've done my best to acknowledge their beliefs and did just as you said. Long ago, I learned how they weaponize religion to gain as much power and control over others as possible. When they have power, they abuse it. Just because someone is Christian, that doesn't necessarily mean they are good people. Some of the most malicious people I've ever known attend church regularly, read their bible, and do an excellent job fooling the world with the facade they create to hide their true nature. Some of my family members serve as excellent examples for this.
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I was also going to say "translating." I was thinking more of between groups of my "internal customers" in the company. Translating desires between laser physics folk, marketing, mechanical engineers, firmware/software engineers, electronics engineers, R&D management. And then there's translating field failure reports into something useful.
"I already told you! I talk to the engineers...." lol Yes though. I've worked with a bunch of the world at least so far as people who spoke languages I do not. When people translate from their native to English they can say things in English which are exactly the same words as someone who has a different native language doing the same thing. But these people mean different things. You only know that if you know them or if you know the common ways the individual/individual's culture tend to phrase things in English.
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Translating what the customer says they want ("customer" includes "manager" for those that may remember when TQM / ISO-9000 was all the rage) into what they actually need. This can be generalized to any relationship. ;)
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In what other areas do you have knowledge or experience with? What are they, and how do you use them?
The thing that made a colleague go "Woah - how did you do that?" was when his car broke down in the company parking lot with a snapped clutch cable, and I drove it all the way to his home without once needing the clutch[1] even though I worked it through all five gears, both changing up and changing down. [1] Stalled at every stop, started with a jerk after every stop.
Ahh, floating the gears. Nice. I used to do that on my old 80s something mazda pickup, for fun sometimes (only after using the clutch to smoothly start moving). Nowadays the only need for that technique is in my dump truck where that is required (again, after using the clutch to get moving) since heavy truck manual transmissions don't have synchronizers - so it's either floating them or double clutching, with the latter too much hassle).