[9fans] Re: architectures

[Jim Choate <ravage@ssz.com>]

It's not a question of 'tech savvy' it's a question of mental process,
levels of indirection and abstraction. Those are biological factors and
can't be taught. If you got it you can improve it, if you ain't you ain't.

I speak from spending 7 years in a hands-on science museum trying to
explain a host of technologies to folks. Most folks are not techie and
can't be. Most 'techie' folks really aren't either. They get a vague idea
of the process and work from that, they never get a deep inside intuitive
grasp of process and principle.


On Thu, 12 Jul 2001, Laura Creighton wrote:

> There are some things you cannot teach the technically unsavvy.  For
> instance, in 20 years I have never, ever, ever, been able to convince
> people that floating point, despite looking like decimal fractions,
> ISNT, and that you MUST NEVER USE IT FOR MONEY.  The damn fools listen
> politely and then go back to using it, because, after all, they think
> they know better than you do.  Moth to the flame.  But I have worked
> with 8-year-olds and 80-year-olds, secretaries, hairdressers, and
> supermarket-check-out clerks, the most non-technical people we could
> hope to find since we advertized for them.  And after they get some
> familiarity with vi, I can teach nearly all of them how to use regular
> expressions.  And just like the technically savvy, they think that
> regular expressions are wonderful.


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