"I know that I know nothing."
- Socrates
We all have gaps. That's not a problem. The problem is we can't see most of these gaps.
I'll give you an example from my liberal arts background. Many scholars think St. Augustine's pneumatology was influenced by Neo-Platonism, but he was in fact more influences by Hilary of Poitiers and Ambrose of Milan.
I can almost guarantee there is at least one name or term you'd need to look up to even understand that statement. That's ignorance, that's a gap, and that's okay! You are not stupid for not knowing terms you'd never heard about. You're not stupid for not knowing whether to agree or disagree with that statement (I spent my senior year of college figuring it out).
But I've exposed a gap. It's not a gap you likely have any desire or reason to fill, but I, an outside influence, exposed it. That's what you need.
You will expose few gaps on your own. That's why you need to talk to others. My recommendation is conferences and recorded talks from conferences.
You may find that you don't understand everything the speaker is saying. Good! Write them down. Google them later.
As an example, I attended a talk on cloud computing in Go two weeks ago. I had to write down so many terms and acronyms and tools I'd never heard of before. After the talk and after Googling what everything meant, I have a much clearer idea of what I need to learn to excel with cloud computing in Go.
If you know of any groups, conferences, videos, and the like that have helped you fill in gaps, share them in the comments below.
Top comments (2)
While it's not training persae, I enjoyed every moment of EmberConf 2020, and felt like it was showing that a project and wider team can have and express the values I have as a person and a budding dev. They are high in inclusivity and setting up future devs and themselves up for success, from A11y best practices to maternity/paternity care and breaks for kiddos, for the parents attending the conf from home!
Anyway enjoy EmberConf 2020 -- youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4eq2DP...
I can't overstate the level of awesome that is GopherCon and it's all virtual this year. If you're not being sponsored by a company they've got tickets as low as $100.