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Sloan the DEV Moderator for CodeNewbie

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Embracing "I Don't Know": What Have You Learned?

Can you share a moment when admitting "you don't know" led to valuable learning experiences in coding?
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Top comments (6)

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ Fayard
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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

I can't recall any specific case, but the fact of acknowledging you don't know something is a good thing in itself. That opens the door to learn more! If you think you know everything about something, you don't.

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jordantylerburchett profile image
Jordan-Tyler Burchett

Same here.. Not having an answer bothers me and forces me to figure out the answer, even if the person I may have been discussing it with is already gone.

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chasm profile image
Charles F. Munat

I don't know anything at all. About anything.

The moment you think you "know" something, you're screwed. Because if you already "know" it, then you won't question it, hence learning ceases.

Every check in the "know" column means that you have mentally moved from "learning" to "knowing". Door closed, whether you admit it or not.

I have always preferred to teach rank beginners because they know that they know nothing. When I have to teach those who think that they know, it is always a struggle.

They have worked hard, they feel, to become "knowers" and they are loath to give up that status and return to "ignorant" status. But you cannot learn if you think that you already know.

The fundamental skill required for all learning is humility: knowing that you do not know. Anything at all. All "knowledge" is conjectural.

Therefore, embrace not knowing.

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theaccordance profile image
Joe Mainwaring

Single Sign-On.

I had zero knowledge in the protocol or process but one day found myself being assigned to troubleshoot an issue with one of our largest customers and the product I was leading at the time (mobile app). I had to deep dive for a week to understand not only the dependencies and implementation on my end, but also learn about the technology.

Also, shout out to Okta for having free dev resources and an incredibly intuitive onboarding process.

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Renan Ferro

Definitely when I needed to learn Angular to implement it in some projects at my work. I didn't know anything about Angular and had maybe a month or 3 weeks to learn! And now, Angular is my love for code ๐Ÿ˜