Posted: September 26, 2013 | Author: Hilary Mason | Filed under: blog | Tags: code, philosophy, teaching, thinking | 4 Comments »
I recently had a tweet that’s caused a bit of comment, and I wanted to expand on the point.
Everyone does realize that it’s not about teaching people to CODE as much as it is about teaching people to THINK … right?
— Hilary Mason (@hmason) September 17, 2013
I’m a huge fan of the movement to teach people, especially kids, to code.
When you learn to code, you’re learning to think precisely and analytically about a quirky world. It doesn’t really matter which particular technology you learn, as long as you are learning to solve the underlying logical problems. If a student becomes a professional engineer, their programming ability will rise above the details of the language, anyway. And if they don’t, they will have learned to reason logically, a skill that’s invaluable no matter what they end up doing.
That you can apparently complete a three month Ruby bootcamp and get a job today is an artifact of a bizarre employment market, and likely unsustainable. But by dedicating three months to learning to think in a logical framework, you’ll also gain an ability that will open opportunities for you for the rest of your life.
Hi. I'm Hilary Mason. 