This really resonated with me. When I was learning to program I had a mentor (who was just a few years older than me at 17) who was an amazing learner but was an incredible teacher. I didn't have any money for programming books and libraries at the time didn't carry many.
His ability to explain the complexities of Pascal, Basic and eventually C++ totally changed my life. I never became an amazing programmer, but I was a hacker at a time when that was valuable and it completely changed the trajectory of my life.
He set the bar for simplification of a subject and edification of an individual. It's something I look for and at some understanding someone's ability to explain something became the primary way for me to assess their intelligence.
The best way to do that? Ask really stupid questions.
That has really really worked against my in some contexts. I spent a lot of time working for a large US company and while many of the smartest and most capable executives LOVED those conversations where would explore the outer bounds of their new ideas, many of the mid level mangers truly thought I was a f$#ing idiot. They could not get past their impression of my after one simple, stupid, question.
I still don't know how many people I have left in my wake who truly think I am dim. I don't really care, but it took me a lot of years to realize how it was perceived.
His ability to explain the complexities of Pascal, Basic and eventually C++ totally changed my life. I never became an amazing programmer, but I was a hacker at a time when that was valuable and it completely changed the trajectory of my life.
He set the bar for simplification of a subject and edification of an individual. It's something I look for and at some understanding someone's ability to explain something became the primary way for me to assess their intelligence.
The best way to do that? Ask really stupid questions.
That has really really worked against my in some contexts. I spent a lot of time working for a large US company and while many of the smartest and most capable executives LOVED those conversations where would explore the outer bounds of their new ideas, many of the mid level mangers truly thought I was a f$#ing idiot. They could not get past their impression of my after one simple, stupid, question.
I still don't know how many people I have left in my wake who truly think I am dim. I don't really care, but it took me a lot of years to realize how it was perceived.