"The Guru Myth"

[Cranky Old Man]

It has less to do with people thinking that we're gurus, and more with people not bothering to find out what the problem is themselves, because they're spoiled and immature, so to them we're their mommies.
People don't bother reading the error code, won't bother checking their code for wrong brackets and spelling mistakes, won't bother using Geany or Notepad++, and sometimes even says "Write this script for me.". They're lazy and spoiled.
That being said, I've actually posted two easy problems when I've been too busy or tired to spend 15 minutes learn about something that experienced people already knew and could tell me in 15 seconds.

[Adrianis]

Too important to let it fall through the depths? I can't think of anyone, not a developer nor user nor enthusiast who would ever actually believe in what that guy says is the 'guru myth'. It seems so obvious that its not really worth repeating, let alone writing an article like that about, let alone declaring it an 'industry wide problem'.

People ask stupid questions, not out of a belief that some master of tech magic will solve the issue, its just a stupid question. That article harks of someone who wants to invent a myth so that they can debunk it and look all the smarter for it.

"Softwares biggest obstacle"? Nah, I call bullshit on that, sorry. Software's biggest obstacle is designers who don't have a love for their target market, who don't consult users as part of the process of design. Hell, the rise of closed environment systems like Apple's platforms is a far bigger obstacle to Software than this 'myth'.

People who do ask questions like that simply havn't considered the support side of software, they havnt helped someone else before so they don't know whats required in order to answer the question, you just need to point out to them why including error messages is important, not write articles about the downfall of an industry

[palistov]

Consider a chef or cook -- it isn't expected of a cook to give me his or her recipe and extremely detailed (down to the letter) instructions on how to create it, just because I dined at his or her restaurant. That's probably not how great chefs become great chefs. Now with that in mind, consider a very talented programmer. I can assure you, even with my relatively low amount of "formal" training, that reading a tutorial (recipe) won't get you there. As the author of the article mentioned, "a guru is a smart person with relentless curiosity". If you don't experiment and practice and run the process of evaluating and addressing problems, you'll never become a great programmer (or chef! I can't cook for #@&%).

It's like blazing a trail in the jungle. If you come across some thick foliage, what are you going to do? Sit down, and wait for an experienced trailblazer to come along and show you how to cut it down? No, you start swinging, that's what I would do.

[Adrianis]

I would want to disagree with you Palistov, because people should already know that, but then again I saw someone asking for a tutorial on how to make things scary so god knows what people expect... Thing is, a tutorial won't get you all the way, but without any tutorials your not going to get anywhere at all.

Formal education is just a means by which experienced people can propogate their superior knowledge. You have to start low, you have to start with a tutorial no matter the format of the tutorial, be it on Youtube or a lecture room. Unless your developing a whole computer system from the ground up, you can't just make your own trail, we are all working on the trails set by other people, those people had to teach others, and those others have to teach us.

You may just want to just start swinging, but unless your making your own machete you better have someone who has made a machete to help you out. Theres no point in 'reinventing the wheel', and we all know it, thats why we are modding not developing our own engine, but no one thinks of the people with more experience as being anything other than people with more experience. Well, not anyone worth worrying about, certainly not anyone on the development forums!