From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jim Choate To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu In-Reply-To: <200107121302.PAA24298@boris.cd.chalmers.se> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Subject: [9fans] Re: architectures Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 15:35:39 -0500 Topicbox-Message-UUID: c8955444-eac9-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 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. -- ____________________________________________________________________ Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, "Let Tesla be", and all was light. B.A. Behrend The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------