tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post3265003651904803284..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Slouching towards the ValleySteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-72790809214631787362014-03-22T23:45:13.304-04:002014-03-22T23:45:13.304-04:00Once i wised up I spent most of my time being an p...Once i wised up I spent most of my time being an pelagic shark tasting the money of different companies and setting my own hours and time off.James Hedmanhttp://www.dhs.gov/how-do-i/report-suspicious-activitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-52907538398888022972014-03-22T23:26:28.410-04:002014-03-22T23:26:28.410-04:00In my 40 years experience in software systems deve...In my 40 years experience in software systems development I think a Pareto distribution is probably more apropos. Given an absolute minimum floor of a 115 IQ to be even a competent software tester given the proper tools I'd be thinking in terms of 135-145 IQ 5xer's and 160+ IQ 25xer's with the 5xer's doing 70 to 75+ % of the coding on decent size projects.James Hedmanhttp://www.dhs.gov/how-do-i/report-suspicious-activitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-39135543687992831752014-03-22T22:45:05.900-04:002014-03-22T22:45:05.900-04:00"as jensen commented and steve quoted, the di..."as jensen commented and steve quoted, the difference between the ordinary engineer and the genius engineer is usually NOT g"<br /><br /><br />I always thought it was Thomas Edison that famously first pointed that out.James Hedmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-6467568459048344712014-03-16T17:33:05.790-04:002014-03-16T17:33:05.790-04:00BTW I looked up 'Slouching to Bethlehem' o...BTW I looked up 'Slouching to Bethlehem' on Amazon. I was living in the Haight when she came through in 1967. I wondered if she got it right.<br />The remarkable thing for me was that you can buy a new copy of her book in hardback for $1,300 or a used copy for one cent. Quite a price spread that.patnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-11575449855319465262014-03-16T17:26:54.813-04:002014-03-16T17:26:54.813-04:00I think the Yangs missed a couple points. The most...I think the Yangs missed a couple points. The most obvious of which is - maybe their kid wanted to be a 'code monkey'.<br />I'm a sort of quantitative guy. I took a lot of math in college and grad school. I taught statistics for several years. I ended up a CTO for an Internet startup before I retired. I supervised a lot of coders at a lot of companies. Late in life I meditated on the patnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-53760764054107755732014-03-15T19:59:07.078-04:002014-03-15T19:59:07.078-04:00Oh, yeah you're probably right.Oh, yeah you're probably right.ESRogsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-22710615929672796072014-03-15T19:29:34.889-04:002014-03-15T19:29:34.889-04:00"let's say 80% of them are going to USN&a..."let's say 80% of them are going to USN&WR's top 20 universities"<br /><br /><br />let's not. this is <i>way</i> too high. 50% max.chartreuse1737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-65609546401168946592014-03-14T16:24:57.460-04:002014-03-14T16:24:57.460-04:00Hmm, I got intrigued by your suggestion and decide...Hmm, I got intrigued by your suggestion and decided to do some calculations. It seems to me that if 150 is actually the cutoff you're looking for, it shouldn't be too hard to find such people. My rough estimate is that there should be ~2500 150+ IQers graduating from college per year in the US (150 on the 15 pts / SD scale corresponds to the 1 in 2000 level, and there are ~4M total ESRogsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-62255844812472742682014-03-14T04:15:14.713-04:002014-03-14T04:15:14.713-04:00The reasons for the non-existence of 100X-ers in t...The reasons for the non-existence of 100X-ers in the research literature is probably the Terman study problem: very few 150+ IQs exist, and only a small fraction of them are career programmers.Endre Bakken Stovnernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-11213249045016300372014-03-14T04:08:56.007-04:002014-03-14T04:08:56.007-04:00I do not see how anyone can deny the existence of ...I do not see how anyone can deny the existence of 10x-ers. Since there exist programmers that add negative, or best case no value, it follows trivially that nX software engineers exist for any value of n.Endre Bakken Stovnernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-35333188072723517702014-03-13T21:24:43.072-04:002014-03-13T21:24:43.072-04:00"...they’re god’s gift to technology..."..."...they’re god’s gift to technology..."<br /><br />when was it exactly that "technology" came to mean software and gadgets? from the stone knife and spear, to ceramic containers, to the iron plow, to the flying buttress, to the perfect screw. for get about it, we've got toys!chartreuse1737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-85629710947451995392014-03-13T18:53:09.604-04:002014-03-13T18:53:09.604-04:00this attitude toward real work is inherited from t...this attitude toward real work is inherited from the british. like father (britain) like son (the us). this is not the way it is elsewhere. the capital exporter, labor importer us economy will come to a very ugly end very soon.chartreuse1737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-40848360414328011482014-03-13T14:00:54.208-04:002014-03-13T14:00:54.208-04:00How does the young talent flow into startups affec...How does the young talent flow into startups affect the world of physics? How many of them are Nobel prize material?norkuatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-23801878618410621392014-03-13T11:59:24.207-04:002014-03-13T11:59:24.207-04:00The author http://www.quora.com/Yiren-LuThe author http://www.quora.com/Yiren-LuAl_Linoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-27064175629338407722014-03-13T11:26:17.323-04:002014-03-13T11:26:17.323-04:00The whole 10x/100x programmer discussion is retard...The whole 10x/100x programmer discussion is retarded. If we were talking about bankers, lawyers, writers, musicians, actors, etc. the idea that one talent might be worth an order of magnitude (or three) more than another would be so routine as to be not worth mentioning. But when we talk about programmers, oh! that's completely different. What!? Aren't programmers sort of like SethTSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-28884596619321783592014-03-13T01:05:24.906-04:002014-03-13T01:05:24.906-04:00Yes indeed, tech is more fun.Yes indeed, tech is more fun.Kristen Mendeznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-7320510820427762542014-03-12T20:54:58.248-04:002014-03-12T20:54:58.248-04:00one of steve's themes is that the very creme d...one of steve's themes is that the very creme de la creme is always recognized as such eventually. the only problem is that whether one is or is not in this category is not just a matter of iq + effort. the meritocracy ideology has support even among those without merit, because no one wants to believe he isn't in control of his life. no one wants to believe that the very person he is is chartreuse1737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-78467685205920068012014-03-12T14:34:23.828-04:002014-03-12T14:34:23.828-04:00So-called 10xers exist and they are important, esp...So-called 10xers exist and they are important, especially when developing greenfield projects in a startup or what have you, however it is also possible to fetishize this and place too much emphasis on it. The difference between success and failure often comes down to execution. Brilliance alone is not enough to execute well. I would rather have a team that is willing to get down in the weeds Christy2012http://www.bostonglobe.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-65571540371862881302014-03-12T14:33:47.818-04:002014-03-12T14:33:47.818-04:00The angst of finding out AT&T patented your pr...The angst of finding out AT&T patented your product and sold the licensing rights to Google for $200MM per year 6 months before you even built your prototype...<br /><br />But I'm not in that particular valleyCorneliusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-34574712363067614882014-03-12T13:48:00.355-04:002014-03-12T13:48:00.355-04:00The "would you rather be a big fish in a smal...The "would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or a large fish in the ocean?" syndrome?JayManhttp://jaymans.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com