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> It's an Asperger profession; smart but artless. Sorry, but I would have to disagree with you on this. I've been programming now for over 35 years, and reall

> It's an Asperger profession; smart but artless. Sorry, but I would have to disagree with you on this. I've been programming now for over 35 years, and really cannot see myself doing anything else. I find I can channel my creativity into programming in many ways, and writing a good piece of code gives me the same satisfaction as writing or recording apiece of music. Yes, I am a musician too, and while they are very different, I see a lot of similarities between them too. ANY job can become a task of 'piling bricks via brute force and slavery' at some point in time. Every good friend who has had a seemingly dream job has broken down and despaired at some of the drudgery involved over a beer. One of them does, in fact, write plays that do very well in the UK theatre scene and he also writes TV shows that do well locally - but he often speaks of the interminable problems dealing with promoters, agents, crew and transport. Another good friend tours the world as a physio with an international cricket team. First class flights and hotels everywhere, rubbing shoulders with celebrities. Many of us (thought we) would kill for such an opportunity, but he says he is tired of living out of a suitcase and having to check the local papers under the door every morning to remember which city he is in. It is all a matter of perspective.

biinui 10y ago
whoa, interesting perspectives. do you have more?
oneeyedpigeon 10y ago
> physio ... rubbing shoulders I see what you did there :)
- jstimpfle 10y ago
  What did (s)he do there? (Not a native speaker if that matters).
  - endisukaj 10y ago
    Not a native speaker either so I may be wrong in this assessment, but a physio is someone who also gives therapeutic massages when needed. Hence, rubbing shoulders.
    - flushandforget 10y ago
      Or rather rubbing shoulders is usually used to describe networking, though if you are mingling with the great and the good/important or famous, hobnobbing may have been a better term.
      - atsaloli 10y ago
        Indeed. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/rub-shoulders-with http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/rub-sh...
    - cyberferret 10y ago
      Yes, "rubbing shoulders" is a coloquial term to mean that you are standing next to other/famous people - at a crowded party or lining up next to each other for a photo opportunity etc. Your shoulders tend to bump or rub against each other in those situations. This is my friends case, as his Facebook feed is full of pictures of him standing next to (rubbing shoulders with) famous actors & politicians etc. @oneeyedpigeon cunningly made the connection between my friend being a physio (physiotherapist) whose main job is providing healing and relief from muscle pain usually by rubbing or applying pressure. (Computer programmers like me who spend a long time at the keyboard often visit a physio to get our shoulders manipulated and rubbed to relieve built up tension).
- cyberferret 10y ago
  LOL...touche!
  - sten 10y ago
    Is that also a pun?
amelius 10y ago
But at least those jobs don't have the stigma of being (in the words above) Asperger professions. This makes it difficult to share your problems with other people, and of course, also because people in general would, I suppose, find the problems that musicians or theatre writers have more interesting, and more approachable than the problems of a software developer. Also, this makes that a musician can be a "musician" in normal life. He or she doesn't need to change their identity. Developer culture does not blend with the normal world, and as a developer I believe you really have to switch between two worlds. That can be tiring.
- throwanem 10y ago
  I've never felt stigmatized because of my profession, or as though I have to "switch between two worlds". I suppose there's a point to be made that it's not easy to discuss with someone outside the field the difficulties of implementing algorithm X or integrating API Y with service Z, but I imagine the same must be broadly true of any highly technical field. Are biology and surgery and piloting "Asperger professions", too? If anything, I've often found that the perspective and knowledge that come with my professional experience are socially valuable, rather than the converse. I get a fair bit of my social interaction over beer and cider at a nearby bar, and it's pretty common that, when a conversation gets around to professions, I find myself fielding questions on all manner of subjects from the plausibility of widespread voting machine fraud to the rise of the machines - I spent a good few minutes the other day allaying fears that turned out to go back to that Ars article with the picture of Arnold as the T-800 that turned up here a little while back. I suppose the possibility exists that I did so in a particularly Aspergery way.
- jjuel 10y ago
  I never have issues like this. Of course I am not a programmer that thinks about code all day every day either. I am good at what I do, but I also have many other interests. No one stigmatizes me. The key is to not let your profession define you no matter who you are. Once you let your profession take up every part of your life that is when it is difficult to discuss problems with other people. This would be the same with any profession even artists of any type.
- 10y ago
perlpimp 10y ago
remark on a tangent - before siting down to a bunch of tasks I ask myself how I can make this funny/creative, how is it hilarious and how interesting can this be made. suddenly perspective changes.
- cyberferret 10y ago
  Exactly. It's about reframing the task so that it goes from tedious to fun. I know it is an old and probably out of fashion book now, but I really think a lot of people who feel stuck in dead end jobs should read Fish! by Stephen Lundin [0] To reframe this from the 'musician' side of my life, a lot of other guitarists I play with absolutely hate changing the strings on their guitars. They treat it like a chore to be avoided and rushed through only when really needed. But a few years ago, I read a short story about how Samurai warriors used to care and polish their sword blades on a regular basis. I was entranced by the ritual and ceremony around this mundane process, so I set up a similar process around my guitar string changes. Now I actually look forward to doing string changes, as it give me a lot of meditative time to bond and learn more about my instruments and my music. [0] - http://www.fishphilosophy.com/ http://www.fishphilosophy.com/
- falcolas 10y ago
  Or, if you need a reminder of your capabilities, look at your current project and think of how much havoc you could wreak if you decided to go the nefarious route. i.e. the sysadmin bringing down the company from within. The Web Developer commandeering his own botnet. The backend developer who makes a fortune mining doge coins. And so forth.

biinui 10y ago

whoa, interesting perspectives. do you have more?

oneeyedpigeon 10y ago

> physio ... rubbing shoulders I see what you did there :)

jstimpfle 10y ago
What did (s)he do there? (Not a native speaker if that matters).
- endisukaj 10y ago
  Not a native speaker either so I may be wrong in this assessment, but a physio is someone who also gives therapeutic massages when needed. Hence, rubbing shoulders.
  - flushandforget 10y ago
    Or rather rubbing shoulders is usually used to describe networking, though if you are mingling with the great and the good/important or famous, hobnobbing may have been a better term.
    - atsaloli 10y ago
      Indeed. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/rub-shoulders-with http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/rub-sh...
  - cyberferret 10y ago
    Yes, "rubbing shoulders" is a coloquial term to mean that you are standing next to other/famous people - at a crowded party or lining up next to each other for a photo opportunity etc. Your shoulders tend to bump or rub against each other in those situations. This is my friends case, as his Facebook feed is full of pictures of him standing next to (rubbing shoulders with) famous actors & politicians etc. @oneeyedpigeon cunningly made the connection between my friend being a physio (physiotherapist) whose main job is providing healing and relief from muscle pain usually by rubbing or applying pressure. (Computer programmers like me who spend a long time at the keyboard often visit a physio to get our shoulders manipulated and rubbed to relieve built up tension).
cyberferret 10y ago
LOL...touche!
- sten 10y ago
  Is that also a pun?

amelius 10y ago

But at least those jobs don't have the stigma of being (in the words above) Asperger professions. This makes it difficult to share your problems with other people, and of course, also because people in general would, I suppose, find the problems that musicians or theatre writers have more interesting, and more approachable than the problems of a software developer. Also, this makes that a musician can be a "musician" in normal life. He or she doesn't need to change their identity. Developer culture does not blend with the normal world, and as a developer I believe you really have to switch between two worlds. That can be tiring.

throwanem 10y ago
I've never felt stigmatized because of my profession, or as though I have to "switch between two worlds". I suppose there's a point to be made that it's not easy to discuss with someone outside the field the difficulties of implementing algorithm X or integrating API Y with service Z, but I imagine the same must be broadly true of any highly technical field. Are biology and surgery and piloting "Asperger professions", too? If anything, I've often found that the perspective and knowledge that come with my professional experience are socially valuable, rather than the converse. I get a fair bit of my social interaction over beer and cider at a nearby bar, and it's pretty common that, when a conversation gets around to professions, I find myself fielding questions on all manner of subjects from the plausibility of widespread voting machine fraud to the rise of the machines - I spent a good few minutes the other day allaying fears that turned out to go back to that Ars article with the picture of Arnold as the T-800 that turned up here a little while back. I suppose the possibility exists that I did so in a particularly Aspergery way.
jjuel 10y ago
I never have issues like this. Of course I am not a programmer that thinks about code all day every day either. I am good at what I do, but I also have many other interests. No one stigmatizes me. The key is to not let your profession define you no matter who you are. Once you let your profession take up every part of your life that is when it is difficult to discuss problems with other people. This would be the same with any profession even artists of any type.
10y ago

perlpimp 10y ago

remark on a tangent - before siting down to a bunch of tasks I ask myself how I can make this funny/creative, how is it hilarious and how interesting can this be made. suddenly perspective changes.

cyberferret 10y ago
Exactly. It's about reframing the task so that it goes from tedious to fun. I know it is an old and probably out of fashion book now, but I really think a lot of people who feel stuck in dead end jobs should read Fish! by Stephen Lundin [0] To reframe this from the 'musician' side of my life, a lot of other guitarists I play with absolutely hate changing the strings on their guitars. They treat it like a chore to be avoided and rushed through only when really needed. But a few years ago, I read a short story about how Samurai warriors used to care and polish their sword blades on a regular basis. I was entranced by the ritual and ceremony around this mundane process, so I set up a similar process around my guitar string changes. Now I actually look forward to doing string changes, as it give me a lot of meditative time to bond and learn more about my instruments and my music. [0] - http://www.fishphilosophy.com/ http://www.fishphilosophy.com/
falcolas 10y ago
Or, if you need a reminder of your capabilities, look at your current project and think of how much havoc you could wreak if you decided to go the nefarious route. i.e. the sysadmin bringing down the company from within. The Web Developer commandeering his own botnet. The backend developer who makes a fortune mining doge coins. And so forth.