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What most schools don't teach

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    I was thirteen when I first got access to a computer
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    My parents bought me a Macintosh in 1984 when I was 8 years old.
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    I was in sixth grade
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    I learned to code in college
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    Freshman year, first semester of intro to computer science
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    I wrote a program to play tic-tac-toe
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    I think it was pretty humble beginnings. I think the first program I wrote asks you what is your
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    favorite color, or how old are you.
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    I first learned how to make a green circle then a red square appear on the screen.
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    The first time I actually had something come up and say "Hello World".
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    And I made the computer do that, it was astonishing.
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    Learning to program didn't start off as wanting to lear all of computer science or
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    trying to master this discipline or anything like that.
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    It just started off because I wanted to do this one simple thing.
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    I wanted to make something that was fun for myself and my sisters.
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    I wrote this little program then basically added a little bit to it. And then when I
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    needed to learn something new I looked it up. Either in a book or in the internet.
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    It's really not unlike kind of playing an instrument or something or playing a sport.
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    It starts out as being very intimidating but you kind of get the hang of it over time.
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    Coding is something that can be learned and I know it can be intimidating and a lot of things
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    are intimidating but you know, what isn't?
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    A lot of the code that people do is actually fairly simple. It's more about the process of breaking
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    down problems then coming up with complicated algorythims as people traditionally think about it.
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    You don't have to be a genius to learn how to code, you need to be determined.
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    Addition, subtraction. That's about it.
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    You should probably know your multiplication tables.
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    You don't have to be a genius to code. Do you have to be a genius to read?
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    Even if you want to become a race car driver, or you want to play baseball or you know, build a house
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    all of these things have been turned upside down by software.
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    What it is, you know, is computers are everywhere. You want to work in agriculture? You want to work
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    in entertainment ? Do you want to work in manufacturing? It's just all over
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    Here we are 2013 all depends on technology. To communicate. To bank. Information.
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    And none of us know how to read and write code.
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    When I was in school I was in this after school group called "The Wiz Kids". And when
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    people found out the laughed at me, you know, these things.
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    And I'm like: man, I don't care. I think it's cool and I'm learning a lot and some of my friends have jobs.
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    Our policy is literally to hire as many talented engineers as we can find.
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    The whole limit in the system is just that there aren't enough people who are trained and have
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    the skills today.
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    To get the very best people we try to make the office as awesome as possible.
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    We have a fantastic chef
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    Free food
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    Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
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    Free laundry
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    Snacks
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    Even places to play and video games and scooters.
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    There's all this kind of interesting things around the office, places where people can play or relax or go think
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    or play music or be creative.
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    Whether you're trying to make a lot of money or just change the world , computer programming
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    is an incredibly empowering skill to learn
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    I think if someone has told me that software is really about humanity, it's really about helping people
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    by using computer technology it would have changed my outlook a loot earlier.
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    To be able to actually come up with an idea and then see it your hands and be able to press a button and
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    it be in millions of people's hands. I mean, I think we're the first generation in the world to have that kind of experience.
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    Just that. Think that you can start something in your college dorm room and you can
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    have a set of people that haven't built a big company before come together and build something that
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    a billion people use as part of their daily lives is just crazy if you think about it.
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    It's humbling and it's amazing.
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    The programmers of tomorrow are the wizards of the future, you know, you're gonna look like you have magic powers
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    compared to everybody else.
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    It's amazing I think it's the closest thing we have to a super power.
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    Great coders are today's rock starts. That's it.
Title:
What most schools don't teach
Description:

Learn about a new "superpower" that isn't being taught in in 90% of US schools.

Starring Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, will.i.am, Chris Bosh, Jack Dorsey, Tony Hsieh, Drew Houston, Gabe Newell, Ruchi Sanghvi, Elena Silenok, Vanessa Hurst, and Hadi Partovi. Directed by Lesley Chilcott.

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
05:44

English subtitles

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