[Animats]

> As a professional programmer entering the final third of an enjoyable career, I would now place "learning to code" in the same category as "making a living as a poet." As in, it's truly enjoyable art and some people appreciate it, but you'd better plan for a day job.

Not wrong. Probably.

I'm reminded of an old friend from long ago. She was an early music major at Harvard, and graduated with a MFA. She was very good. She read and wrote Latin and Greek, could compose and play music using medieval notations, and published a book on early needlepoint.

She never obtained an academic appointment. She never found a job that needed those skills. She died alone a few years ago.

That may be the fate of many programmers.

[alightsoul]

If I have learned something is that people in this field of work highly underestimate their skills. I still remember when people said gpt 3.5 was the end of programming and that I shouldn't pursue it. I am so glad I took the risk anyway. Although things are much brighter outside the us and Europe https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report exactly the same countries where ai is mostly seen as unacceptable.

[tkocmathla]

> I'm reminded of an old friend from long ago. She was an early music major at Harvard, and graduated with a MFA. She was very good. She read and wrote Latin and Greek, could compose and play music using medieval notations, and published a book on early needlepoint.

This sounds to me like a life well lived!

[stackbutterflow]

It's such a shame that our society doesn't value more, in economic terms, this type of skills.

[mangodrunk]

Can you expand on why you think society should value it?

[b40d-48b2-979e]

What is a society without culture? Decline.