Re:TechCrunch messes up the math on sexism
by adgar on Sunday November 20, 2011 @01:12PM
(#3258609)
From the very start he shows he thinks programming requires godlike mastery of the universe:
> people who are in the top 2.5% in mathematical ability alone, i.e. people with the capability to be decent programmers
Decent? Top 2.5% in mathematical ability can be "decent" programmers? Most programmers don't do rocket science. You don't need to be a world-class software engineer to make most of the web apps that come out each day. CRUD operations on a database, ETL code, implementing someone else's graph algorithm... these do not require over 2 sigmas in raw math skill to do. A "decent" programmer can do these things just fine.
When you're coming from such a warped worldview, it's not too surprising that he thinks only 1 in 1000 people have the math skills alone to write code for a Y Combinator startup and that successful applicants are literally 1 in a million.
> people who are in the top 2.5% in mathematical ability alone, i.e. people with the capability to be decent programmers
Decent? Top 2.5% in mathematical ability can be "decent" programmers? Most programmers don't do rocket science. You don't need to be a world-class software engineer to make most of the web apps that come out each day. CRUD operations on a database, ETL code, implementing someone else's graph algorithm... these do not require over 2 sigmas in raw math skill to do. A "decent" programmer can do these things just fine.
When you're coming from such a warped worldview, it's not too surprising that he thinks only 1 in 1000 people have the math skills alone to write code for a Y Combinator startup and that successful applicants are literally 1 in a million.
Dunning-Kruger strikes again.