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As someone who is nearing 40 and worked in many different areas of software (including at 3 startups), with about 10 failed "micro startups" (i.e. hobby project

As someone who is nearing 40 and worked in many different areas of software (including at 3 startups), with about 10 failed "micro startups" (i.e. hobby projects) under my belt, I can confidently say that I still have not nearly figured everything out. But at least I am not quite as dumb as I once was. :)

beat 7y ago
After mastering a few skills, I can tell when I've mastered something when I hit that point where I feel like the more I learn, the less I know. There's a Zen saying for that (I know via Shunryo Suzuki)... Before you start zen, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. But once you learn some zen, mountains are no longer mountains, and rivers are no longer rivers. When you master zen, mountains are just mountains and rivers are just rivers again.
- deconstructive 7y ago
  This is the process of deconstruction taking place. It's the act of internalizing the awareness of all of the moving parts of a dynamic, interactive process in motion. To understand with intuition, just as much as with observation, equalizing the cognitive substance of each with the other. A sometimes often related example is that of a bicycle. To look at a bicycle as a complete object, its integrity as a whole, represents a conceptual recognition of the noun it is known by. It is a mineral, a thing, a bicycle. To disassemble the bicycle to pieces, strewn across the concrete floor of a garage, is to render it unto its parts, and destroys the recognition of the original object. To scoop up all of those parts in a bag or bin, is to obscure the bicycle as we once knew it. The process of disassembly is a complex task, and so too, the act of reassembly. But to reassemble the bicycle, is to understand it more completely. To be able to repair one bike (or mountain, or river), or duplicate parts and fabricate many bicycles (mountain ranges, tributaries), from scratch, represents a greater power and command of the recognizable object. So now we have passed through all three stations. Discovery (learning to recognize a distinct phenomenon), disassembly (rendering the recognizable complex whole as the sum of its atomic pieces by destroying its recognizability), mastery (the ability to utilize an inventory of elements as a part listing, and create distinct recognizable things from them).
- DougWebb 7y ago
  There are no mountains or rivers. There are only valleys. Some are bigger.

beat 7y ago

After mastering a few skills, I can tell when I've mastered something when I hit that point where I feel like the more I learn, the less I know. There's a Zen saying for that (I know via Shunryo Suzuki)... Before you start zen, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. But once you learn some zen, mountains are no longer mountains, and rivers are no longer rivers. When you master zen, mountains are just mountains and rivers are just rivers again.

deconstructive 7y ago
This is the process of deconstruction taking place. It's the act of internalizing the awareness of all of the moving parts of a dynamic, interactive process in motion. To understand with intuition, just as much as with observation, equalizing the cognitive substance of each with the other. A sometimes often related example is that of a bicycle. To look at a bicycle as a complete object, its integrity as a whole, represents a conceptual recognition of the noun it is known by. It is a mineral, a thing, a bicycle. To disassemble the bicycle to pieces, strewn across the concrete floor of a garage, is to render it unto its parts, and destroys the recognition of the original object. To scoop up all of those parts in a bag or bin, is to obscure the bicycle as we once knew it. The process of disassembly is a complex task, and so too, the act of reassembly. But to reassemble the bicycle, is to understand it more completely. To be able to repair one bike (or mountain, or river), or duplicate parts and fabricate many bicycles (mountain ranges, tributaries), from scratch, represents a greater power and command of the recognizable object. So now we have passed through all three stations. Discovery (learning to recognize a distinct phenomenon), disassembly (rendering the recognizable complex whole as the sum of its atomic pieces by destroying its recognizability), mastery (the ability to utilize an inventory of elements as a part listing, and create distinct recognizable things from them).
DougWebb 7y ago
There are no mountains or rivers. There are only valleys. Some are bigger.