Question: What is your interpretation of the Parable of the Talents? How does it apply to your life and your computing skills and talents?
The Parable of the Talents is an extremely interesting passage from the Book of Matthew the has a great number of implications on how everyday life should be lived. The first thing I found interesting when reading this passage is that the master did not give his servants an equal number of talents, but rather distributed them based on who he likely perceived as the most trustworthy or intelligent. Life is unfortunately not fair. Some people start out life at a disadvantage to others, be it through wealth, social status, or even coding ability, no two people are equal. While you may not have any influence on where you start off, your work ethic determines where you finish. Although the two talent servant was not given as many talents as the one who received five, he still worked equally hard in investing his masters money, and was able to double his talents, just as the five talent servant doubled his. While he may not have earned the same profit, he still had the same percentage increase as the servant who was given more than him, and both were able to earn the master’s gratitude. Likewise, in school and in the future, I may not always be the smartest person in the room. Although I will not be doing very much coding as an electrical engineer, this still applies to the skills and knowledge I will have going into the job market. Just because I may not have as much knowledge as those around me, that does not mean I will not be able to succeed in my work. Just as the two talent servant was able to do well with limited resources, I know that through hard work I will also be able to earn praise and achieve success.
Another important part of this parable is that it stresses accountability, since the servant who chose to do nothing with his talents was condemned by his master. This accountability is especially important for programmers, as the article by Andy J. Ko emphasized. People put their trust in their technology; we use it to store important documents, plan our finances, and communicate with the world. The common theme behind all of these interactions is that they are facilitated by a programmer. If computer scientists lacked accountability, the internet would be a scary and dangerous place. It is important for programmers to be able to stand by their code, and to always be ready to answer to their own masters.
Answering to your own master also demonstrates an ability to see the greater picture. The servants in this parable were not working for their own benefit, but were instead working for a higher authority. This is something that every single professional worker must come to terms with. Instead of thinking selfishly on how to get yourself ahead, people should be working to please that higher authority, whether it be a boss, stockholders, or customers. Knowing that I am working to please a higher authority will motivate me in the professional world to do as good as possible, which will in turn give me further opportunities to do right by that authority.