When I see a novice programmer doing complex substring matches instead of using regular expressions, my first thought these days isn't, "They're stupid," it's, "I should have taught or explained something sooner or more clearly." 1/5
Similarly, when someone in tech whom I think has good intentions says something naive about computing education (or about poverty or intellectual property or whatever), my first question these days is, "OK, so where I reasonably expect them to have learned about that?" 2/5
That's why @swcarpentry and why "Teaching Tech Together": it's not fair to diss people for not knowing things they can't reasonably be expected to know, any more than it's fair to make fun of someone for mispronouncing a word they've only ever read, not heard. 3/5
It's not fair to say, "But it's all out there if they would just take a moment to do a bit of reading!" any more than it's fair to tell novice programmers that the answers to all their questions are on Stack Overflow. 4/5
If we really want to help people, we have to set aside the detail and nuance that impress our fellow specialists, organize what's left, take it to people where they are, and help them fit it into their busy lives, because that's what's respectful, and that's what will work. 5/5
