Its hard to become a literate! but not impossible.

"The Illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn"
-Alvin Toffler
I read this quote some time back and I still can't get it off my head as it made me really think a lot.

In this ever-new technological era, it seems to be so true. It is only the knowledge/innovation that keeps the people/industry moving ahead.

As a Software Engineer, I was wondering how does it apply to me! and without any surprise I realized that it impacts me, a very big time. In this time of recession with all the job cuts, only the really "talented literates" can survive in an industry.

The next question that I raised to myself was.. Am I one of them? I'm not productive yet at the new Co and I am very much in probation. I need to redeem myself that I am worthy for the given position. Of-course they saw something within me when they took the interviews and So its all up-to me to prove my ability.

Ramp-up in new technology domain, I feel like a child learning how to relate things to his previous experiences and coming to an understanding, though it may be wrong from its perception! (You can't teach a child about hotness of a flame until he himself experiences it!) Learning very new thing is something easier compared to unlearning deformed concepts in your mind. Really it is hard to unlearn something you strongly believe in and change it. All our learning is based on some rules. We create a map/network of ideas starting from accepted facts/axioms. Unknowingly this network becomes so huge that our brain cells gets so much wired-up and the rewiring takes its own toll!

Knowing half is more dangerous than knowing nothing. This is exactly what the current universities has done to many pathetic students. All the special thanks to my curricular books at university which taught me nothing practical about current technology! All the syllabus books start with organization of PC, 8085, then x86! learn basics of C, partial knowledge of system software and that's it.. I ended up in such a great position that I was no special to a graduate who passed out 10 years back!

Now having learnt everything the hard way, I refer to standards, specifications and Google/Wiki out latest information and that's the only way to get knowledge of current technology.
"Be flexible in process of being cognitive"