> Also, did you know that in many cultures (ancient Greece, Aramaic, Hebrew, Chinese, to name but some) 10,000† just means "a heck of a lot", "more than you can count". So you see, 10,000 is a bit too magical for me to take seriously.
That's the salient point. When Norvig says it takes "10 years" to be a programmer, he means it takes a heckuva long time to master the art, not that it takes 87648 hours with a 95% confidence interval. That figure is not meant to be taken at face value.
That's the salient point. When Norvig says it takes "10 years" to be a programmer, he means it takes a heckuva long time to master the art, not that it takes 87648 hours with a 95% confidence interval. That figure is not meant to be taken at face value.