Home / Generation Z Developers / Connect the dots backwards

Generation Z Developers · The second edition, part by part · board 05

Connect the dots backwards

Paths, mixing disciplines, learning as a lifelong skill, and why to read this on paper. 14 panels.

draft 14 panels · gen-z.journalist, 18 October 2026, from Dinis's memo on paths and learning · book v1.0.0 is the only official version; the second edition is in release candidates (rc1 and rc2 frozen). Every line the Guide says, and every quote card, is Dinis's words from the article 'Connect the dots backwards', word for word, including the Jobs quote as the article gives it; the build checks it.

Take it with you

The same storyboard in every shape it comes in. The data and its derived files are on this site; the pictures are drawn in your browser, now, by the same code as the deck (export.js, v0.1.0), from the current panel.

storyboard.jsonthe data, as gen-z-developers.sgit.ai wrote it bundle.jsonthe data with its cast, for an embed index.mdthe script, as markdown graph.jsona semantic graph: 40 nodes, 91 edges thumb.jpgthe cover, 480 wide og.jpgthe cover, 1200 wide

Put it on your page

Two lines, from any site. The script is pinned to an immutable release of the kit, so the embed draws exactly this, for as long as the page exists. How embedding works.

<script src="https://api.storyboards.sgit.ai/v0/v0.1/v0.1.0/embed.js" defer></script>
<sg-storyboard src="https://storyboards.sgit.ai/gen-z-developers/connect-the-dots-backwards/bundle.json" view="deck"></sg-storyboard>

The panels

  1. 1. Connect the dots backwards: Your path only makes sense looking back. Learn to walk it anyway. (cover; Connect the dots backwards)
  2. 2. Steve Jobs, Stanford, 2005. Zara thinks: “I can't see where any of this goes.” The Guide says: “you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect (scene; Connect the dots backwards, Connect the dots backwards)
  3. 3. His dots, connected backwards. Drops out → Calligraphy → Ten years → The Mac (spectrum; Steve Jobs, Stanford, 12 June 2005)
  4. 4. The edge. The Guide says: “it is the multidisciplinary person who has the edge” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, The edge is multidisciplinary)
  5. 5. How we teach maths. Tomás says: “Just memorise the formula?” The Guide says: “we give the solution away” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, We teach maths as if to make people hate it)
  6. 6. What just happened while writing this book. The Agent says: “Instead of infographics, shall I draw you a cast?” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, Generative AI lets you explore again)
  7. 7. The beauty of it. “you can now discover how you like to work” (Connect the dots backwards) (evidence; Connect the dots backwards, This is about you)
  8. 8. When it feels like too much. Priya says: “It's too much. Where do I even start?” The Guide says: “Let your questions guide you, and learn.” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, This is about you)
  9. 9. Geography no longer decides. The Guide says: “The future is decentralised.” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, Learning is a lifelong skill)
  10. 10. Take it seriously. “Learning is a skill, and a lifelong one.” (punchline; Connect the dots backwards, Learning is a lifelong skill)
  11. 11. You, reading this. The Guide says: “just by reading this book, you are already in a very small minority” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, You are already in a small minority)
  12. 12. Read it on paper, with a pen. The Guide says: “books, and narratives, are still the best way we have to take in information” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, Read it on paper, with a pen)
  13. 13. Trust your own way of thinking. The Guide says: “My thinking is very hyperlinked: I think in graphs.” Zara thinks: “Mine jumps around too.” (scene; Connect the dots backwards, I think in graphs)
  14. 14. From answers to questions (the next article). “Search gave us answers. Now you can ask for the evidence.” (punchline; Connect the dots backwards, From answers to questions)

Imported unchanged from SGit-AI/SGit-AI__Website__Gen-Z-Developers/admin/content/storyboards/05__connect-the-dots-backwards.json at commit e2a71808 (2026-10-19). Every quote and Guide line was checked word for word against admin/content/articles/09__connect-the-dots-backwards.md by the origin site's build. The cast is cast.json.