Hacker News Reader

Asking a 20 year old what they want to do for the next ten years is pretty silly, but I don't think it's as silly to ask the same question of someone older. My experience is that my ability to predict who I'll be at some point in the future scales as some fixed fraction of my age. Personal development seems to be logarithmic, at least for me.

View on HN

They may not have an immediate answer, but it's not silly to ask - the sooner they begin thinking about this question, the sooner they arrive at that answer.

I see no reason why this would be true.

They may not be able to accurately answer the question, but that doesn't prevent if from being a helpful question. If your answer to this question is "no, not at all," you should be aware of that fact and use it to guide decisions you may be able to make.

I asked myself (now 27) this question when I was only one or two years older than 20, and realized I needed to make a change from what I was doing. My mind has certainly changed several times since then, and I expect it to change several more, but the initial "no" answer was crucial to getting me out of what was essentially a career in tech support.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com