There are many lessons to learn from the Parable of the Talents. My biggest take aways are that success is related to the level of work we put into something and that we are held accountable for our work. The first and second servant are rewarded for their hard work and their use of the talents they were given. The third servant does not work hard like the first and second servant and instead bury’s his talents, producing no more. Their master is displeased with the third servant and he now must be held accountable for his lack of success.
I do understand that in this parable “talents” refers to a form of currency. However, it is easy to think about it using the other definition of talents as well. If we think of talent to mean “a special natural ability or aptitude” (as defined by dictionary.com), this story is about two servants who take their god given abilities and work hard to learn new ones. They are then rewarded for their successes and hard work. When I watched the video clip of Karlie Kloss assigned with this reading, I connected her message, with this parable and my life as a computer scientist. Kloss discussed having a love for math, and not being sure what she could do with it other than become a doctor. No one recognized her talents for math and suggest she take a computer science course or pushed her towards engineering. However, she recognized her talent for problem solving and is working right now to expand her god-given talents and she discusses the rewards of finding a way to use her talents. I had a similar journey into computer science. I loved math, had no idea what to do with it, and had no one suggest to me or push me to learn how to code. This resulted in me finding out about computer science kind of late in the game.
I was very intimidated hearing my classmates in my computer science intro course talk about their prior experience with the field and I felt very behind. I later learned I was not alone and many people were learning how to code for the first time, but before I had this knowledge it pushed to work even harder to perfect this new talent. In the video “What Most Schools Don’t Teach” they further discuss the pleasure one feels when you have a success in computer science. The first time you see “Hello World” pop up in your terminal, every bug you finally fix, and any final working product can bring someone an amazing sense of pride. If I had done as the third brother, and buried my talent when I felt intimidated by other students talents, I would have never found the sense of reward that exists in computer science. If you work hard and recognize your own talents, you will find success and happiness.
On the other hand, the third brother who buried his talents and did not work hard was scolded for his actions and held accountable. This is a smart lesson to remember as you journey through computer science. It is important to remember that we always accountable for a product we produce. Some computer scientists will eventually face a difficult situation where the work they are doing may make them feel morally uncomfortable. For example, the author of “The Code I’m Still Ashamed Of” writes about a project he consulted where he did what the customer asked, but the product may have greatly affected the lives of people who used it, and may have even caused death. Although the part of the project he worked on was not the cause of death, he still felt guilt because he was a part of the team that promoted this product. He worked hard and found the success of completing the project as customer asked, but now feels accountable for being a part of the problem. As computer scientists we must remember that what we do can hurt others and have negative side effects.
Being a computer scientist has highs and lows. We experience amazing pride as we work hard and find success, but we also can be held accountable for our work if it goes bad. The overall lesson I am taking away from this parable is that we must work hard to find success in life and to develop our talents, but we also must remember the ramifications of our hard work and actions. If you work hard for the wrong cause, you will be held accountable, or at least experience guilt.