4 ms·

I am over 50 now. I started programming when I was about 10 years old and (probably not coincidentally) I made a career out of programming. I am pretty good at

I am over 50 now. I started programming when I was about 10 years old and (probably not coincidentally) I made a career out of programming. I am pretty good at coding and I still love it. Yet, when I look back at those teenage years spent in a room behind a computer screen I feel pangs of regret as well. Before I met my first computer and fell madly in love, I used to read, draw, write, collect stuff, play outside a lot. I was interested in astronomy, chemistry, history, archeology, painting, art, etc. etc. That all stopped with my first computer and I became a monomaniac. Carmack once said: "being well balanced is overrated". After years of being not so well-balanced, I am not so sure of that.

hutzlibu 4y ago
"Carmack once said: "being well balanced is overrated". After years of being not so well-balanced, I am not so sure of that." I think it is all about balancing. I love coding, but only doing coding? Life would be very empty for me. There are also beaches, mountains and festivals. Family. And much more.
Balgair 4y ago
One way I have looked at it is in terms of those 'Memento Mori' wall calendars [0]. There are only ~45 July Saturday nights in your 'youth' (14-25). There are only ~80 Christmases and Thanksgivings. You only get ~2 more years of total time with your parents. ETC. You can only take your memories with you, if we're judged at all it's by how we treated others, and the only real high score in life is the number of people you could recognize that are at your funeral. [0] https://stoicreflections.com/products/memento-mori-life-calendar-poster-print https://stoicreflections.com/products/memento-mori-life-cale...
mbrodersen 4y ago
Same background here (50+ started programming when I was 11). However I don’t regret it at all. Some of my happiest memories of my childhood is overcoming really hard programming problems and suddenly deeply understanding something I had been trying to understand for days/weeks. With nobody to help me and no online access to any resources. Just a single book “Programming Machine Code on the ZX-Spectrum” as a guide. I still remember finally getting my first machine code program (hand translated from assembler) to work without the computer crashing. The sense of achievement blew my mind. And still does today with much harder problems.

hutzlibu 4y ago

"Carmack once said: "being well balanced is overrated". After years of being not so well-balanced, I am not so sure of that." I think it is all about balancing. I love coding, but only doing coding? Life would be very empty for me. There are also beaches, mountains and festivals. Family. And much more.

Balgair 4y ago

One way I have looked at it is in terms of those 'Memento Mori' wall calendars [0]. There are only ~45 July Saturday nights in your 'youth' (14-25). There are only ~80 Christmases and Thanksgivings. You only get ~2 more years of total time with your parents. ETC. You can only take your memories with you, if we're judged at all it's by how we treated others, and the only real high score in life is the number of people you could recognize that are at your funeral. [0] https://stoicreflections.com/products/memento-mori-life-calendar-poster-print https://stoicreflections.com/products/memento-mori-life-cale...

mbrodersen 4y ago

Same background here (50+ started programming when I was 11). However I don’t regret it at all. Some of my happiest memories of my childhood is overcoming really hard programming problems and suddenly deeply understanding something I had been trying to understand for days/weeks. With nobody to help me and no online access to any resources. Just a single book “Programming Machine Code on the ZX-Spectrum” as a guide. I still remember finally getting my first machine code program (hand translated from assembler) to work without the computer crashing. The sense of achievement blew my mind. And still does today with much harder problems.