Comments on: Beginner’s Mind versus Teacher’s Mind

By: 0xDECAFBAD » Greatest Hits Vol. 2, the Babble Bits

0xDECAFBAD » Greatest Hits Vol. 2, the Babble Bits — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:22:46 +0000

[...] Beginner’s Mind versus Teacher’s Mind Cultivating an open mind and an attenuated ego. [...]

By: Lion Kimbro

Lion Kimbro — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I wish there were a good book on how to be an Open Source hacker. (More motivational than, say, the Art of Unix Programming.) Something inspiring, practical, with a vision, and a way.

Then I could give it to everybody who's interested in that path.

I meet a LOT of people, while writing things here and there, who want to know how to get involved.

There should be a special section for people who are in college. There should be a section on setting up a blog, and a wiki. There should be a section on mental habits. There should be a section on social networking in the local area. There should be a section on: "Now that I've written this thing, how do I get people to use it?" (Programmers face marketing face to face, for the first time in their life.)

All these little practical things that are involved in participating online, and stuff.

It would need to be written with a lot of Love and encouragement. And you don't need to write it in "Ah-hah; Now I am the Master" mode. I hate it when books do that: "I'm the author, hear me roar, because I know everything." That's really sucky.

Well: This is something that I wish for a lot. And I know a lot of people want to know what is written and drawn in the (presently) etherial pages of this book.

The goal is to help the people who want to become programmers in our new public space to do so.

If I were writing it, I'd write a tiny smidgeon about the big picture we're involved in, too. Tell us a little about your ideals, where you see us heading, something to give it heart.

Just all this stuff. Sort it out, write it out, and thereby manufacture 100 new participants in our fun space. That'd be really cool.

Again: People WANT to know this stuff. I keep running into these people. They want to know how to master their habits so that they can program every day. They want to contribute. There's all these hurdles. We both know the work is on their end, but it's possible to help, by drawing the path in chalk marks.

But, I don't know. Maybe you can't get a book contract like that so easy. And it's arguable whether it's more worthwhile to work on Comm tech, rather than explaining how to work on Comm tech.

By: Ian Bicking

Ian Bicking — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

One of the nice things about a blog is that you can write questions as well as you can write answers, and often they are just as useful to the reader, at least if they are questions backed up with experience. Not so easy to do in a book, since a book implies authority, a lack of timeliness or transience, and a lack of a personal voice.

By: Kris Johnson

Kris Johnson — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve thought along these lines myself over the years. I like writing, and I’m sure there is stuff I know that would be useful to others, but all the really interesting stuff is stuff that I am still learning.

I wrote my own blog entry about this subject a couple of months ago: http://kristopherjohnson.blogspot.com/2004/11/on-writing.html

By: Mark Wubben

Mark Wubben — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Why don’t you write as a beginner? Look at things with a blank mind, and figure out / explain how things work. It would probably resonate with other beginners more.

More along these lines here: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/01/your_users_brai.html

By: skipjack

skipjack — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I have had to teach a couple of courses in my life, the thing that has helped me was start writting about the process of how you got all the knowledge you have. After you have finished that set it down for a week or so and then pick it up and read it with a fresh mind. You will catch alot of assumentions you left out, fill them in. Once again set it down for a week, then read it word for word with a beginner’s mind and see if it makes sense. What ends up happening is that the book shows a process of learning and shows that while you may be ahead of the person your teaching , you still have quite a bit mnore to learn. And by teaching them you are bring them up to your level so both of you can learn the next level together.

By: William Pietri

William Pietri — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

You seem to think being a beginner and being a teacher are opposed. But good teachers are always learning more about their subject. I don’t think beginner’s mind requires you to deny what you know or to unfairly slight yourself in comparison with others. What it requires is to be humble in the face of how much more you have yet to learn.

Perhaps the way to apply beginner’s mind here is in constantly making fresh appraisals of yourself and others, in always being open to opportunities to teach as well as to learn.

By: Software will save us

Software will save us — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

In praise of 0xDECAFBAD

Do you know the situation when your mind circles around a particular idea for a long time and suddenly you have it all in front of you, written down in clear English, by someone who isn't you? For me one...

By: Software will save us

Software will save us — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

In praise of 0xDECAFBAD

By: Software will save us

Software will save us — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

In praise of 0xDECAFBAD