Maybe it's because I was just sitting here reading Ian Stewart's chapter on Sally Clark and pondering probability, but I rather suspect that the probability that you're over 50 and suck is much higher than the probability that you are over 50 and are a badass.
Mostly because the probability that you suck is incredibly high.
And I'm saying this as someone who is over 50, with a phd, a bunch of programming languages and blog posts, and crap on GitHub. And I know I suck. Hell, the primary advantage I have over most of the people I've worked with is that I know what a badass looks like in the wild.
I would agree with you that likely the majority of people over 50 do 'suck'.
But... so do the majority of people under 50. Somehow, things still get built and projects get finished. Fetishizing the rare genius doesn't help anyone, since by definition they are a rarity. How, exactly, does age make for worse employees? Since this discussion is about ageism specifically, and not that 90% of everything is crap.
There are a couple problems with your post coming
from a 50+ year old.
* Statistics and probability.
* PHD,blog posts, > 2 PL and github in the wild = respectable technical resume.
* Badass is as badass does.
I work with CS PHDs who are great with math->algo mappings, pattern recognition and data structures that couldn't build a scalable system in fifteen years. Instead you'd end up with some cloud struck monstrosity. I worked with ex auto mechanics who were so quick and deft with hardware, components and diagnostics that they could run/build a
DC by themselves. Which is the badass?
Maybe it's because I was just sitting here reading Ian Stewart's chapter on Sally Clark and pondering probability, but I rather suspect that the probability that you're over 50 and suck is much higher than the probability that you are over 50 and are a badass.
Mostly because the probability that you suck is incredibly high.
And I'm saying this as someone who is over 50, with a phd, a bunch of programming languages and blog posts, and crap on GitHub. And I know I suck. Hell, the primary advantage I have over most of the people I've worked with is that I know what a badass looks like in the wild.
I think I'm going to get some more coffee now.