I am an operating system developer, age 68. In my 20s I worked on something called a nucleus instead being called a kernel. I take a somewhat different view of the productivity of the generations of kernel coders.
I think that any person working at an intellectual job is more productive and brilliant in their 20s than when they are older. As people age their mental facilities decline. Everybody notices this in old people. (Now what was I talking about, oh, yes.) But when a person is working to the top of their intellectual ability then the decline begins to be noticeable in their 30s. This phenomenon parallels physical decline. Everybody notices that old people become physically decrepit. However the physical decline of professional athletes in noticeable once they reach about 30.
Another consideration is that there is a wide range in individual intellectual abilities just as there is a wide range in people's physical abilities. I don't think that the range of intellectual abilities in the current crop of 20 something people is any different than it was in my hay day. In looking back at my generation of kernel developers we don't remember the mediocrities. We remember Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan, and Dennis Ritchie. If we compare today's average kernel developer to Thompson, Kernighan, and Ritchie then of course the current generation comes off second best.
I think that the current generation of kernel developers compares fairly well with previous generations. Most people are mediocre and a large portion of the important work is done by a few superstars. Fifty years from now people will only remember the current superstars. So who are the current superstars?
"That happens because my generations this thing of political correctness was starting and we were shamed to not express ourselves in many aspects."
I agree that political correctness has stifled intellectual achievement to a certain extent. I went to college just as political correctness was becoming entrenched in the academic world. In my experience political correctness has been a major drag on intellectual and social progress. The current example of political correctness run amok is the climate change political movement.
I am an operating system developer, age 68. In my 20s I worked on something called a nucleus instead being called a kernel. I take a somewhat different view of the productivity of the generations of kernel coders.
I think that any person working at an intellectual job is more productive and brilliant in their 20s than when they are older. As people age their mental facilities decline. Everybody notices this in old people. (Now what was I talking about, oh, yes.) But when a person is working to the top of their intellectual ability then the decline begins to be noticeable in their 30s. This phenomenon parallels physical decline. Everybody notices that old people become physically decrepit. However the physical decline of professional athletes in noticeable once they reach about 30.
Another consideration is that there is a wide range in individual intellectual abilities just as there is a wide range in people's physical abilities. I don't think that the range of intellectual abilities in the current crop of 20 something people is any different than it was in my hay day. In looking back at my generation of kernel developers we don't remember the mediocrities. We remember Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan, and Dennis Ritchie. If we compare today's average kernel developer to Thompson, Kernighan, and Ritchie then of course the current generation comes off second best.
I think that the current generation of kernel developers compares fairly well with previous generations. Most people are mediocre and a large portion of the important work is done by a few superstars. Fifty years from now people will only remember the current superstars. So who are the current superstars?
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Steve Stites