Subject: Re: Conference moment: Lisp certification? From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 03 Nov 2002 19:45:51 +0000 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3245341551563105@naggum.no> * J L Russell | And all I'm saying is, do we really want to work for the forces of darkness? I think that should be a personal decision. It would be better for all of us if we did not have to check with what "we" want before each of us can make a personal decision, and consequently it would be nice if those who do not want something at least do not block the way for those who do. | I have taken many tests in my life, and done quite well on most all of | them, and I have never seen one that measures much of anything other than | the ability to do well on that particular test. I know that this is a | trite observance, but that doesn't make it any less true. Tests are not useful for what they measure, but for how what they measure correlates with other things. If some foot size happened to correlate well with programmer proficiency, one could measure foot size and get high programmer proficiency for no better reason than that other people with the same foot size had high proficiency as programmers; one would not measure proficiency as such. Even if foot size correlated weakly with programmer proficiency, like 75% chance of getting a good programmer with some foot size, it could still be more valuable than anything else that had a lower correlation coefficient. -- Erik Naggum, Oslo, Norway Act from reason, and failure makes you rethink and study harder. Act from faith, and failure makes you blame someone and push harder.