The programming talent myth [LWN.net]

The programming talent myth

Posted Apr 30, 2015 23:26 UTC (Thu) by jwarnica (subscriber, #27492)
In reply to: The programming talent myth by dskoll
Parent article: The programming talent myth

Evolution is just a side-effect of randomness, so any discussion about goal-oriented evolution is broken, full stop.

That said, since humans developed language, the ability to learn, and teach, the ability to construct abstract solutions to general problems followed naturally.

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The programming talent myth

Posted May 1, 2015 11:51 UTC (Fri) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link] (2 responses)

Evolution is certainly not goal-oriented. However, a trait that does not improve survival (or more importantly, improve the chance of reproduction and survival of progeny) will certainly not be selected for.

I really cannot see how an ability to program computers could possibly have improved the chances of survival of our ancestors.

The programming talent myth

Posted May 1, 2015 18:22 UTC (Fri) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (1 responses)

> I really cannot see how an ability to program computers could possibly have improved the chances of survival of our ancestors.

the ability to program is a combination of the abilities to logically thing through the problem, break it down into what needs to be done, and communicate those steps unambiguously to others.

what about those abilities wouldn't help survival?

The programming talent myth

Posted May 4, 2015 14:50 UTC (Mon) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link]

What you are saying is reinforcing my point: The ability to program computers is a side effect of traits that were selected for reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with computers.