The Power of Community
It's no secret that at DBC, we're basically paying to be around each other. To some people, that might seem like an unthinkable rip off. Ten thousand dollars for nine weeks of 14 hour days around like-minded people interested in learning the same thing? Insane. A gip. Outrageous. Inflated.
After six days, I have complete conviction that the experience is worth every penny.
Today, while pairing with my new friend Daniel building battleship, he said something along the lines of "if only we were in the matrix and we could just download the knowledge to build this thing!" I laughed when he said it (we were struggling through a particularly murky part), but I realize now after a few hours of reflection, that the learning environment at DBC is the closet thing anyone could create to downloading information directly into our cerebral cortex via firewire twenty-point-oh or whatever that sterile looking future cable is.
How many other programs do you know of where you can acquire a lifelong foundation in a completely new complex skill in nine weeks? There is no other way that I would be building a program in which a user can play battleship against a computer after six days of 'instruction'. The secret is in the community.
So many of our technologies and institutions seem to disintegrate communities rather than grow them. Do you really feel like a part of a community when you like a post on Facebook, or watch tv? I suppose one could argue that internet memes and tv shows define the new required standards of knowledge to fit in and socialize with people when you do see them in person (increasingly rare, at least compared to the ancestral environment in which we were formed), but something about that content often feels 'lower-order', for lack of a better term.
I'm fascinated by technologies that enrich the human experience rather than detracting from it, and that's a major reason why I got into this game- because this is where I see real opportunity to make a positive impact on a lot of people's lives. And to that end, it really pleases me that the institution that will hopefully empower me to achieve that goal exemplifies that ideal itself.
It was apparent tonight, when we hosted a mixer for boots and mentors at the office. One hundred people in a room- students, teachers, engineers, consultants, entrepreneurs- all united by a common passion for our learning experience and for producing something great. And it was apparent this weekend, when more than half the boots spent their Saturday and Sunday in the office digesting the week's lessons in the office.
Each individual has a unique drive and passion, but only together do we create this vibrant learning community that empowers us all to achieve incredible results, and to me, that justifies the (still painful) price. I look forward to completing, and maybe even sharing a game of battleship with you all tomorrow.