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It really isn't. Can we please stop the 'superhero' meme? I'm not a superhero. I'm just a person who knows a few programming languages and can hack things toge

It really isn't. Can we please stop the 'superhero' meme? I'm not a superhero. I'm just a person who knows a few programming languages and can hack things together. It's not a great feat: it's just typing bits of logic into a computer. If you can think logically and with a reasonable degree of abstraction, you can do it too! We should be shouting from the rooftop that it's fun and easy and giving children lessons in Python or whatever, not turning ourselves in to a priesthood just to boost our own egos. The best sort of superheros are modest and work quietly in the background rather than shouting about how awesome they are. Can we try that?

acangiano 16y ago
I think that I may not have made my point clear. The point is not that we are superheroes for knowing how to program, but rather than learning to program is so cool that it's like having a super power, for what it enables you to build and do. If you read the article, you'll see that I mention how even "product guys" should learn how to program. In my next post, for example, I'll talk about how to learn programming as an absolute beginner. When it comes to programming I try to take a stance as far as possible from elitism.
- jarek 16y ago
  Carpentry is a Super Power. The point is not that we are superheros for knowing how to build, but rather that learning to build is so cool that its like having a super power, for what it enables you to build and do.
  - khafra 16y ago
    Carpentry is a super power. Just about every girlfriend I've had has been very turned on by guys who can build things with their hands; my brother made a (successful) engagement ring out of 5 different kinds of Amazonian hardwoods that looked amazing. I think people like _why would agree that learning to create things, regardless of the medium, is so cool that it's like having a super power.
    - jarek 16y ago
      By this standard, pretty much anything that doesn't involve trivial desk job paper pushing is a super power. Bricklaying? Check. Welding? Check. Mech eng? Check. Digging ditches? Check. Everyone's special, Dash.
      - khafra 16y ago
        I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability) on one side, and bricklaying, ditch digging, etc. on the other side. Bricklayers and ditch diggers don't often think of something cool and then make it happen with those particular skills.
        jordanb 16y ago
        I've been learning to weld (using the TIG process) and it does have that cool mixture of being able to produce amazing, strong physical objects and also being Dark Magick for the average person. The TIG process in particular is a mixture of science and art that makes you feel like a wizard when you start getting good at it. Watching a professional bricklayer work is pretty mesmerizing. The really good ones achieve this rhythmic action where they seem to manage to quickly and accurately place and set every brick while taking advantage of inertia of the moving bricks to expend the minimum physical energy possible. I don't think there are any ditchdiggers left in the united states though, only bobcat or backhoe operators.
        chopsueyar 16y ago
        I've seen robotic welders, but I've yet to see robotic bricklayers.
        bane 16y ago
        I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability) For some reason that reminded me of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uQz_V0sbI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uQz_V0sbI Watching the complex and beautiful movements of the various parts of the engine, the raw power, the drama, it took superhumans to figure this out, to contain tons of iron and steel, and water, and fire and turn it into something so exquisite and powerful.
- generalk 16y ago
  > The point is not that we are superheroes for knowing how to program, but rather than learning to program is so cool that it's like having a super power, for what it enables you to build and do Programming isn't a super power. It isn't even like a super power. It's a skill. It's like any other skill: when you're good at it, it allows you to do things nobody else can do, and you make difficult and challenging tasks look effortless. I know you say you're standing away from elitism, but things like "even "product guys" should learn how to program" certainly smacks of it. There's no doubt, programming computers is pretty astounding. But so is cold-calling someone and convincing them to give you thousands of dollars for software they may never have heard of. So is building and maintaining the hardware that modern software runs atop.
donaq 16y ago
We could, but I doubt it would work. I acquired interest in programming after I realised it was a powerful skill to have. I remain interested because every so often, I am amazed at the results it can produce. While I do not believe it is actually a superpower, I think it might be productive to market it as one - one that YOU, too, could possess. I don't think the majority of kids want to be modest and work quietly in the background, but I think most kids have fantasised about being superheroes. I mean, many adults still act out superhero roles by playing RPGs.
cicero 16y ago
I'll be showing this article to my high school computer science students to try to raise the excitement level among some of them. Programming is hard enough that kids have to be pretty motivated to choose to do it. At our school, Computer Science is an elective at the High School level, and it is more difficult than many of the other courses they could take. Although most of our students think computers are cool, they also think they know all they need to know about computers without having to wrestle with the tediousness of getting the syntax right and figuring out why their programs are locking up. I learned to program as a kid because in the late 70s, that was about the only thing you could do with a computer. I was lazy enough as a teenager that if I had an Xbox 360, iPhone, and other electronic distractions, I might not have bothered. Now I find that I have rather deep knowledge about a technology that permeates our lives today. I would like my students to get excited enough about gaining that kind of knowledge that they will do the hard work it takes to reach such a goal. I think it could help if I put into their imaginations the idea of getting a superpower.
hackinthebochs 16y ago
On that same note, can we also stop with the false-modesty meme? A lot of what we do is actually pretty cool and it does take a certain amount of smarts, hard word, and yes even talent to be at the top of your game. There's nothing wrong with saying so or being proud of it.
- rch 16y ago
  OK, no more false-modesty. Only judicious humility from here on out.
- Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
  The same is true of doctors, accountants and lawyers but they're not running around calling themselves superheroes, ninjas or rockstars like a bunch of thirteen year old boys. It's not about false modesty, it's about being vaguely adult once you get into your twenties. [Goes back to playing video games and ordering D&D manuals on eBay.]
  - acangiano 16y ago
    About a month ago I wrote on Twitter: "Does your IT company provide drugs, alcohol, and groupies? How about katanas? No? Then you aren't hiring rockstars or ninjas." As you can see I'm the first one to be oppose to meaningless names. However the point of the article was not about labeling ourselves as super heroes. It was about inspiring new comers to take the plunge because programming, in this information age, allows you to do incredible things as if you had a super power. This is akin to a doctor blogging about how you can be a hero and save lives if you go into the medical field. It's supposed to inspire new people, not putting ourselves on a pedestal and literally say "I'm a super hero because of my profession".
    - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
      Katana were too long for a ninja - they'd more likely use a Ninjato which was shorter... [Puts geek credentials away and gets back to the point] Yes programming is great and useful but I think super power is overstating it and is just meaningless, sightly immature hyperbole. If people want programming to be attractive and interesting to more people then they should possibly think about not using super hero, fantasy and sci-fi metaphors as they only serve to re-enforce the view that most non-programmers have rather than do anything to dispel it. This isn't really having a go at you, more the a culture that exists within certain sections of the programming community. Don't get me wrong, I still play D&D and video games, and I still read comics (though in trade hardback these days). There's nothing wrong with these things but they're not things which most people are interested in and are therefore not a great way of making programming seem cool or interesting beyond a very very small group, most of which are already working in it.
ldh 16y ago
I agree with your characterization of programming, but I think a lot of people are taking this too seriously. Obviously programming isn't a superhero ability, as superheroes do not exist. It's exciting and awesome to learn to be able to do the things we do, and that's what I took away from the article.

acangiano 16y ago

I think that I may not have made my point clear. The point is not that we are superheroes for knowing how to program, but rather than learning to program is so cool that it's like having a super power, for what it enables you to build and do. If you read the article, you'll see that I mention how even "product guys" should learn how to program. In my next post, for example, I'll talk about how to learn programming as an absolute beginner. When it comes to programming I try to take a stance as far as possible from elitism.

jarek 16y ago
Carpentry is a Super Power. The point is not that we are superheros for knowing how to build, but rather that learning to build is so cool that its like having a super power, for what it enables you to build and do.
- khafra 16y ago
  Carpentry is a super power. Just about every girlfriend I've had has been very turned on by guys who can build things with their hands; my brother made a (successful) engagement ring out of 5 different kinds of Amazonian hardwoods that looked amazing. I think people like _why would agree that learning to create things, regardless of the medium, is so cool that it's like having a super power.
  - jarek 16y ago
    By this standard, pretty much anything that doesn't involve trivial desk job paper pushing is a super power. Bricklaying? Check. Welding? Check. Mech eng? Check. Digging ditches? Check. Everyone's special, Dash.
    - khafra 16y ago
      I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability) on one side, and bricklaying, ditch digging, etc. on the other side. Bricklayers and ditch diggers don't often think of something cool and then make it happen with those particular skills.
      - jordanb 16y ago
        I've been learning to weld (using the TIG process) and it does have that cool mixture of being able to produce amazing, strong physical objects and also being Dark Magick for the average person. The TIG process in particular is a mixture of science and art that makes you feel like a wizard when you start getting good at it. Watching a professional bricklayer work is pretty mesmerizing. The really good ones achieve this rhythmic action where they seem to manage to quickly and accurately place and set every brick while taking advantage of inertia of the moving bricks to expend the minimum physical energy possible. I don't think there are any ditchdiggers left in the united states though, only bobcat or backhoe operators.
        chopsueyar 16y ago
        I've seen robotic welders, but I've yet to see robotic bricklayers.
      - bane 16y ago
        I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability) For some reason that reminded me of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uQz_V0sbI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uQz_V0sbI Watching the complex and beautiful movements of the various parts of the engine, the raw power, the drama, it took superhumans to figure this out, to contain tons of iron and steel, and water, and fire and turn it into something so exquisite and powerful.
generalk 16y ago
> The point is not that we are superheroes for knowing how to program, but rather than learning to program is so cool that it's like having a super power, for what it enables you to build and do Programming isn't a super power. It isn't even like a super power. It's a skill. It's like any other skill: when you're good at it, it allows you to do things nobody else can do, and you make difficult and challenging tasks look effortless. I know you say you're standing away from elitism, but things like "even "product guys" should learn how to program" certainly smacks of it. There's no doubt, programming computers is pretty astounding. But so is cold-calling someone and convincing them to give you thousands of dollars for software they may never have heard of. So is building and maintaining the hardware that modern software runs atop.

donaq 16y ago

We could, but I doubt it would work. I acquired interest in programming after I realised it was a powerful skill to have. I remain interested because every so often, I am amazed at the results it can produce. While I do not believe it is actually a superpower, I think it might be productive to market it as one - one that YOU, too, could possess. I don't think the majority of kids want to be modest and work quietly in the background, but I think most kids have fantasised about being superheroes. I mean, many adults still act out superhero roles by playing RPGs.

cicero 16y ago

I'll be showing this article to my high school computer science students to try to raise the excitement level among some of them. Programming is hard enough that kids have to be pretty motivated to choose to do it. At our school, Computer Science is an elective at the High School level, and it is more difficult than many of the other courses they could take. Although most of our students think computers are cool, they also think they know all they need to know about computers without having to wrestle with the tediousness of getting the syntax right and figuring out why their programs are locking up. I learned to program as a kid because in the late 70s, that was about the only thing you could do with a computer. I was lazy enough as a teenager that if I had an Xbox 360, iPhone, and other electronic distractions, I might not have bothered. Now I find that I have rather deep knowledge about a technology that permeates our lives today. I would like my students to get excited enough about gaining that kind of knowledge that they will do the hard work it takes to reach such a goal. I think it could help if I put into their imaginations the idea of getting a superpower.

hackinthebochs 16y ago

On that same note, can we also stop with the false-modesty meme? A lot of what we do is actually pretty cool and it does take a certain amount of smarts, hard word, and yes even talent to be at the top of your game. There's nothing wrong with saying so or being proud of it.

rch 16y ago
OK, no more false-modesty. Only judicious humility from here on out.
Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
The same is true of doctors, accountants and lawyers but they're not running around calling themselves superheroes, ninjas or rockstars like a bunch of thirteen year old boys. It's not about false modesty, it's about being vaguely adult once you get into your twenties. [Goes back to playing video games and ordering D&D manuals on eBay.]
- acangiano 16y ago
  About a month ago I wrote on Twitter: "Does your IT company provide drugs, alcohol, and groupies? How about katanas? No? Then you aren't hiring rockstars or ninjas." As you can see I'm the first one to be oppose to meaningless names. However the point of the article was not about labeling ourselves as super heroes. It was about inspiring new comers to take the plunge because programming, in this information age, allows you to do incredible things as if you had a super power. This is akin to a doctor blogging about how you can be a hero and save lives if you go into the medical field. It's supposed to inspire new people, not putting ourselves on a pedestal and literally say "I'm a super hero because of my profession".
  - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
    Katana were too long for a ninja - they'd more likely use a Ninjato which was shorter... [Puts geek credentials away and gets back to the point] Yes programming is great and useful but I think super power is overstating it and is just meaningless, sightly immature hyperbole. If people want programming to be attractive and interesting to more people then they should possibly think about not using super hero, fantasy and sci-fi metaphors as they only serve to re-enforce the view that most non-programmers have rather than do anything to dispel it. This isn't really having a go at you, more the a culture that exists within certain sections of the programming community. Don't get me wrong, I still play D&D and video games, and I still read comics (though in trade hardback these days). There's nothing wrong with these things but they're not things which most people are interested in and are therefore not a great way of making programming seem cool or interesting beyond a very very small group, most of which are already working in it.

ldh 16y ago

I agree with your characterization of programming, but I think a lot of people are taking this too seriously. Obviously programming isn't a superhero ability, as superheroes do not exist. It's exciting and awesome to learn to be able to do the things we do, and that's what I took away from the article.