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Why you should still learn to code: lunch with Stephen Hawking thought experiment

Jake Simonds (jklb.social + mea.media)
Mar 13, 2026 · 1 min read · 1 read

Briefly:

magine you've won some sweepstakes, and you're going to have lunch with Stephen Hawking (imagine he's still alive...while we're imagining things).

You're a normal person, you don't know that much about physics. But if you brush up the night before the lunch, your conversation with Stephen Hawking is going to go much better. The guy who knows all the physics will have a lot more he can share with you, and draw out of you, and explain to you, if you put in a little work beforehand.

It'll be more fun for both of you.

LLMs

It's 2026. My computer can use a computer better than I can. It's still worth it to learn to code. If I'm gonna be talking to my computer to give it instructions, I can give it way way way better instructions if I know a thing or two about computers as well.

How, though, do you learn about code in 2026 when the computer can do it all for you? Oof. I have no idea. I look forward to meeting the young people who figure it out.

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