[xkcd] 11th Grade (19 Dec 2008) ( programming.dev )

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And the ten minutes striking up a conversation with that strange kid in homeroom sometimes matters more than every other part of high school combined.

Transcript

[Above a bar graph:]
11th-grade activities:
[The y-axis is labeled:]
Usefulness to career success
[Above the x-axis are two small bars and one huge bar. Below the x-axis, each bar is labeled:]
900 hours of classes
400 hours of homework
One weekend messing with Perl

BaumGeist ,

How's the job market working out for all the Perl devs these days?

johannesvanderwhales ,

I kind of take issue with the idea that education is simply vocational training. Not that I necessarily think that's what Randall is trying to say here. But I feel like a lot of discussions about the current state of education in the US (and especially higher education) frame it that way.

BaumGeist ,

I agree it's a terrible metric of success in life, but at the same time the older I get the more I feel like 1. the revolution/apocalypse that I was promised isn't coming and, 2. you can't retire with a bank account full of good character and well-rounded education. There's a lot more cynicism toward the idea that all knowledge and skills are equally worth pursuing couched in that, which would take hours or days or longer to convince someone who hadn't already given up hope, but suffice it to say that no education is perfect and the ones that are closest put you into lifelong debt.

To that end, Randall could have also labeled the Y axis "success later in life" and still made a pretty good point. Most educators, education scientists, developmental psychologists, counselors and caretakers that I've talked to, read, listened to on documentaries and podcasts, etc. all seem to agree that homework is bullshit that doesnly aid learning. The same aforementioned group readily admit that forcing the kids to stay seated in a room while reading from textbooks/getting lectured to isn't a method that works to instill curiosity nor encourage long-term retention for most people.

But it sure does teach us the useful skills of doing meaningless, repetitive busywork for hours on end on our own time after work, and sitting through mind-numbing meetings where someone you don't have a personal connection to talks at length about a topic that doesn't matter to you.

max ,

Messing around is one of the best ways to learn any programming language

hemko ,

Second best. Best way is being thrown into a project solo

Uiop ,

Is Perl the programming thing or a girl?

captainlezbian ,

It’s xkcd, so it’s the programming language

Uiop ,

cant be sure 'bout that

A_Very_Big_Fan ,

Yes

Thcdenton ,

Either way I'm crashing hard

nezrock ,

Damn this one's dark.

Gork ,

My most useful skill from primary and secondary school has actually been a typing class in middle school on what I think was an IBM Selectric typewriter (or clone of it).

I type every day both on the job and off the job. Granted, I'm a basic QWERTY Bitch® who hasn't played around with other formats but I type fast enough that my coworkers frequently comment on how fast I type. Ain't nobody got time to wait for your fingers to catch up with your thought when trying to type input into a computer.

ichmagrum ,

Did you ever do one of those typing speed tests? I'm curious what kind of words-per-minute speed is fast enough for coworkers to comment on it.

Halosheep ,

I type around 100-120 wpm (before errors) and often get comments.
Realistically I'm a bit a slower because I have to go back and fix some errors.

ichmagrum ,

Damn, you're almost twice as fast as me, and I'm not exactly slow, either! Definitely comment-worthy.

AceFuzzLord ,
@AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee avatar

That's more than double the score I got from my highest score when doing a speed test on my phone, which I know is faster for me than just using a computer keyboard.

Gork ,

Did one just now. It isn't the fastest that I've done but I'm also on a different-than-normal keyboard (an ortholinear split mechanical keyboard).

https://files.catbox.moe/5yru0w.png

The_v ,

Bah!!! Beginners numbers...

I'll have you know I barely passed typing class on one of those IBM ball electric typewriters at 31wpm.

On the IBM computers with word perfect 5.1 from the 5.25' floppy. I was much faster... 32wpm.

Then I got ulnar nerve damage from a terrible bicycle accident in Europe aka.. I fell off.. and now I average 20wpm.

Pringles ,

Damn dude, I'm not a slow typer but 91 words per minute is blistering fast. Gave it a go on my laptop keyboard with the benchmark test (2 minutes) and ended at 64WPM with only one typo.

ichmagrum ,

As a non-native speaker, those 11th grade English lessons were pretty good. My school also had programming as an elective (though I didn't take it, since I didn't see myself as a math-y/programmer-y person in highschool).

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