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Programming Has Changed My Life
- chickenfries 10y agoSo I take it they're a professor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor.
- djfm 10y agoTotally agree. I see programming as a way to run experiments on your very ability to reason about things. Or on the thing inside you that has reason. I believe much of the positive side effects of programming come from this.
- _ix 10y agoI reluctantly upvoted. The content is wonderful and that ought to be enough, but the cartoon professor makes me feel a bit angry for some reason. Is this the application of Spolsky's[1] (among other's) recommendation of avoiding walls of text because nobody likes to read? [1] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html
- beekums 10y agoI'm sorry you hate the avatar! I get lots of mixed feedback about it, but overall the feedback has been positive. I accept that I can't make everyone happy unfortunately. I am trying to avoid walls of text, but I think it is an unfair statement to say that people don't like to read. People are reading the same amount of text regardless of whether pictures exist or not. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the book, but there's one on brain science that discusses how people process text. Letters are still images as far as our eyes and brain are concerned. There's an extra processing step to turn one type of image (letters) into another type of image (what the letters are describing). This is exhausting and throwing in images act as "taking a break" even if that break is only a second or two.
- satysin 10y agoJust wanted to say I really liked the little cartoons. Do you do them all yourself?
- beekums 10y agoI wish I was that talented. One of my friends is an incredible artist and I asked her to make those for me.
- gknoy 10y agoI'd like to chime in and agree -- the cartoon dudes are mildly amusing. It might be disconcerting that they are so large, but then I ended up un-zooming most of the page, so it might just be PEBCAK at my desk. ;)
- pfarnsworth 10y agoI hate the cartoons too. There's something very condescending about them, smattered throughout your blog post.
- mpfundstein 10y agodito! the cartoon dude is terrible... made me not read the post.
- hartator 10y agoIt can be annedoctic, but same here!
- BWStearns 10y agoI initially thought "cartoon dude is condescending!" Then my brain immediately said "lighten up Francis" and now I like cartoon dude.
- majewsky 10y agoI can see the intention, but it had the exact opposite effect for me. My eyes were drawn to these images like some blinking ad banner, and I got annoyed about how it draws my attention away from the content.
- js8 10y agoI wish he was right, but I don't think he is. There is no evidence that programmers are better at critical thinking than other people with comparable intelligence. There is also no evidence, I think, that ability to think critically in one field transfers to different a field. I think what happened is that he basically developed his critical thinking skills naturally, regardless of the field he was working in.
- amorphid 10y agoWhat do you think of the idea that learning to programming improves one's ability to think critically, but that doesn't automatically mean one makes better choices? Putting garbage into a decision making process will still lead the output of garbage.
- beekums 10y agoYour point on evidence is dead on. This is an entirely anecdotal piece which is why I titled it "Programming Has Changed My Life" rather than "Programming Can Change Your Life Too". The latter claim requires a lot more research because it is a huge leap. Whether I would have developed critical thinking skills naturally can be up to debate. The argument for programming being the factor is because computers are black and white in the early days. Code works or code doesn't work. We don't always get that direct feedback in human interaction.
- lfowles 10y ago>Whether I would have developed critical thinking skills naturally can be up to debate. The argument for programming being the factor is because computers are black and white in the early days. Code works or code doesn't work. We don't always get that direct feedback in human interaction. Glad I refreshed before I posted a similar comment! Feedback in programming has quick and usually exacting results, giving you more feedback per unit time to tune your critical thinking process.
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- Clubber 10y agoIt has certainly given me a long and gainful career that I otherwise wouldn't have had if I had become a teacher or Accountant like I had planned. My work ethic was mostly shaped by high school athletics, but perhaps codified (pun intended) by programming.
- tgarma1234 10y agoThe cartoons make it look like marketing copy aimed at non-programming parents who want to buy lessons for their kids.
- ImTalking 10y agoDidn't you just become older and more mature?
- mythrwy 10y agoProgramming has certainly changed my life. Some of the changes are indeed positive. However many of them are not. I wouldn't do anything else because I love it but just like being a bricklayer or truck driver or a police officer there are downsides, risks and cost associated with career.
- rapjs 10y agoI think you might have just grown up. And also became less arrogant.