Meta HN: How much of a HN's typical front page do you understand? | Hacker News Reader

Meta HN: How much of a HN's typical front page do you understand?

3 pointsfdeage6 comments

I was rereading this article recently: "The world in which IPv6 was a good design" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14986324)

...and realized I could barely understand one line out of 10 (the reading was surpringly pleasant, though. Apenwarr is a very entertaining technical writer).

So I took all 30 articles on the front-page, one by one: 90% of them (and 96% of the technical ones) were way above my head. I have been a Web developer for 7 years. I have no formal education in CS, but I've been training on the job every workday, so this is a bit depressing.

Do you relate to that? How much of the average front-page do you understand, or enjoy?

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It depends on the mix on the front page for the day. There is often a kind of "topic of the day" that happens. If that's a topic I'm unfamiliar with, my understanding falls.

But on the whole, I'd say my understanding runs 50-60%. I find HN stories are often great at pointing me towards things I should study in greater depth to maintain or expand my education.

Yes, me too, it can be an excellent starting point (in addition of being an excellent forum generally).

I would also add one thing, to this part specifically:

> I've been training on the job every workday, so this is a bit depressing.

I understand the sentiment all too well, but you should resist it. What you're talking about is HN stories making you notice where you're ignorant.

"Ignorant" is often used as a disparaging term, but it shouldn't be at all. Being ignorant of something just means that you don't know about that thing. We are all, every single one of us, ignorant of far more things than not. And even the most skilled expert in anything started off as ignorant of that thing as a newborn babe.

There is no shame in ignorance. When you notice it in yourself, and it's ignorance of a thing you wish you weren't, that's a happy moment. You know what you should learn more about.

Also, don't forget Kettering's Principle of Intelligent Ignorance. It's not important (or possible) to know everything. What's important is to know what things you are ignorant of.

Speaking of Kettering, another great quote from him on this topic:

"We find that in research a certain amount of intelligent ignorance is essential to progress; for, if you know too much, you won't try the thing."

personally i find HN to be light reading but enjoy contributing to satisfaction of curiousities at large

"light" in the sense of: "I read it for fun and do not care too much if I don't understand most of it", or in the sense of "I understand most of it"?

the latter would be the case, with all due respects given.

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