Scratch The Surface

date
Oct 17, 2024
slug
scratch-the-surface
status
Published
tags
Life
Emotion
summary
type
Post

1

When I was in high school, I really liked deriving formulas. I wanted to know what they were using and what problem they could solve. One time I got a bad grade on a test in which I used some formulas from calculus. Teachers told me calculus formulas were not allowed to be used in high school. It made me upset, I got shackles in exploring new formulas. I had to obey the scope of knowledge. My discovery was stopped under the prohibitions.
After the college entrance examination, My parents were shocked because of how bad my math grade was. But I knew why I performed badly: If a bird has been trapped in a birdcage for a long time, will it still want to fly?

2

I had to face my leader's 'fun' ideas because of working in a start-up company. I needed to make decisions about whether we can make these ideas work. As a software engineer, I liked a slogan called 'talk is cheap, show me the code'. So I did research after work and built tones of demos. I would show them to my leader to prove their availability. I felt pain while I was building these demos because part of them required me to do research in areas where I had never met before. I was nervous but satisfied when I saw what I did.
After I owned a project, the experience I got from side projects was back in my head, I felt confident about what tech stacks we chose and what we needed to do in more detail. Sometimes my colleagues were surprised by what I knew about new technologies. This was a hallucination because it came from my experience. At last, they called me a 'full stack developer'.
Being a full-stack developer means that you can quickly adopt new technologies as much as you need as if you know everything. --How I became a full-stack developer

3

I listened to the newest episode of Beyond Code, it reminds me of a sentence called 'Scratch The Surface'. The host talked about the mental statement while doing demos which has appeared in my mind before. I didn't regard doing side projects as a method to improve my technical skills. Instead, I used it as a tool to make my ideas on the ground.
After that, I thought backwards a bit: Were my skills improved after scratching the surface? No, I met some people who dived into technology or academics. They created many awesome things, and I just adapted the technologies by projects. I have never tried to dive into some areas which counter to my goal of self-actualization. My skills can help me do my job till now, I don't know if the quality is bad or not.
I think I need more time to think, to practise, and to create something, instead of scratching the surface.

Reference

 

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