5 ms·

I often come back to this video of Kim's process, which is a delight, and now only adds weight to the loss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmqFbgKWoao https:/

I often come back to this video of Kim's process, which is a delight, and now only adds weight to the loss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmqFbgKWoao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmqFbgKWoao “When I decide what to draw, I think about what. And then I create another me in my mind. Another me, a.k.a. mini-me, will be travelling through the space of what I want to draw. … Now, I send a bunch of my mini-mes all over the space to find the best suited location for me to draw. Which perspective should I use? Where is the coolest angle or composition with the most impact?”

ksec 4y ago
This could very much be the definition of genius. May as well include the link on CNN https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/kim-jung-gi-death-cec/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/kim-jung-gi-death-cec/...
thevagrant 4y ago
It reminds me of Nikola Tesla, "Before I put a sketch on paper, the whole idea is worked out mentally. In my mind I change the construction, make improvements, and even operate the device. Without ever having drawn a sketch I can give the measurements of all parts to workmen, and when completed all these parts will fit, just as certainly as though I had made the actual drawings. It is immaterial to me whether I run my machine in my mind or test it in my shop."
- jhugo 4y ago
  Huh. This is the first time I read this quote, but it resonates so well. Does anyone else program this way? I usually sit for a while thinking about the problem, write the program mentally, try out edge cases, sometimes rework the program a few times, then once I feel it's correct I type out all the code, with that phase taking much less time than the "mental work". I'd estimate my usual process is about 90% thought, 10% typing. Anecdotally, from some teams I've worked in, people often find this process quite strange.
  - thevagrant 4y ago
    The quote from Kim Jong Gi reminded me of the quote from Tesla (as well as other notes I've read) because it seems to indicate that they can visualize at extremely high detail and do this at very high speed... while also accurately retaining the information for use later.
  - bovermyer 4y ago
    I'm the complete opposite. I'll think about the issue a little, but I'll just hack on it until it looks (and performs) right. Lots and lots of trial and error. I draw the same way. My sketches are tons and tons of lines in the wrong places that somehow end up looking right, because the majority of the lines are near to or in the right places.
    - roflyear 4y ago
      I have coded with a lot of people like this, and I think it is absolutely a fine way to approach things, and can even be good, but one piece of advice I always tell them: The job has only started when it is working. That doesn't mean you're done! :)
    - ryukafalz 4y ago
      This is how I often program as well. I’ve realized that when you do this it’s crucial to have lots of tests to validate the program’s behavior, because it can easily look right and mostly run right without actually being correct. Though this only works for the implementation side of things in my experience; you still need a good mental model of roughly what you’re aiming for architecturally, I think.
    - lioeters 4y ago
      Yeah, I'm the same way. I never sit and think a long time - I prefer to think by doing, to externalize my thoughts so I can move it around, change things, see the thinking process in front of me as code and observable bahevior. Then I just keep shaping it until it becomes what I envisioned at the start. But then, where did that "vision" come from? Thinking over a long time, usually days and weeks, sometimes years.
- logicalmonster 4y ago
  I've read anecdotes about genius programmers who just sit around playing videogames or watching movies for a bit while they work out the details of complicated problems in their heads and then just finish up and start typing out the right solution in one shot.
- lloeki 4y ago
  Also reminds me of Feynman, who Fixes Radio By Thinking!
- hbosch 4y ago
  I often operate this way, that I design and build and run or use constructions in my mind before I feel comfortable committing to sitting down at the computer and making it, or sketching it. I've been made aware, recently, that some people can't picture things in their mind, rotate them, apply physics to them, etc. One thing about working this way is it's very frustrating to people who operate by documenting in real time, in something like org or Notion. I am not a note taker and I never really have been. I actually find my thinking gets cloudier when I try to document something I personally find "intuitive". One example of this clash of styles was recently with a manager where he asked me, directly, how could I know how to design something if I hadn't written out the structure yet? How would I know to build space for a feature if I hadn't documented all the features that were required? I told him the requirements should be known, already, by anyone who was thinking about this problem... that for instance anyone who bothers to even imagine a "Create" action would automatically, symmetrically, imagine a "Delete" action and budget for that. He didn't agree and made me write it out anyway.
  - groby_b 4y ago
    Good on your manager. Beliefs of personal infallibility are vastly overrated. Sure, some things come in pairs. Some requirements are immutable and obvious. That's not the interesting part of a design, and if that's all it lists, then yes, you can probably skip writing a ton of detail. (Although current and future team mates are usually appreciative of knowing how something was designed, instead of just having to read the code - it makes it easier to distinguish mistake from intent) But the meat of a design is in the trade-offs you made, in the choices that could reasonably go several ways. And no, for any reasonably complex system, you can't hold all of those in your head. And worse, if it's a trade-off, your weights may be wrong - your work is part of a larger effort, and you might miss constraints that seem "outside your area" but play into it.
alexb_ 4y ago
I saw someone on Twitter say that this isn't drawing, it's sculpting with Ink. Insane that he's able to do this.
skupig 4y ago
I found a lot of nuggets of wisdom in this collection of small lectures from his streams: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrg1NICzlqVc_fV37bT7VmySDoG0Bobeu https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrg1NICzlqVc_fV37bT7VmySD... RIP to a tremendously talented man.

ksec 4y ago

This could very much be the definition of genius. May as well include the link on CNN https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/kim-jung-gi-death-cec/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/kim-jung-gi-death-cec/...

thevagrant 4y ago

It reminds me of Nikola Tesla, "Before I put a sketch on paper, the whole idea is worked out mentally. In my mind I change the construction, make improvements, and even operate the device. Without ever having drawn a sketch I can give the measurements of all parts to workmen, and when completed all these parts will fit, just as certainly as though I had made the actual drawings. It is immaterial to me whether I run my machine in my mind or test it in my shop."

jhugo 4y ago
Huh. This is the first time I read this quote, but it resonates so well. Does anyone else program this way? I usually sit for a while thinking about the problem, write the program mentally, try out edge cases, sometimes rework the program a few times, then once I feel it's correct I type out all the code, with that phase taking much less time than the "mental work". I'd estimate my usual process is about 90% thought, 10% typing. Anecdotally, from some teams I've worked in, people often find this process quite strange.
- thevagrant 4y ago
  The quote from Kim Jong Gi reminded me of the quote from Tesla (as well as other notes I've read) because it seems to indicate that they can visualize at extremely high detail and do this at very high speed... while also accurately retaining the information for use later.
- bovermyer 4y ago
  I'm the complete opposite. I'll think about the issue a little, but I'll just hack on it until it looks (and performs) right. Lots and lots of trial and error. I draw the same way. My sketches are tons and tons of lines in the wrong places that somehow end up looking right, because the majority of the lines are near to or in the right places.
  - roflyear 4y ago
    I have coded with a lot of people like this, and I think it is absolutely a fine way to approach things, and can even be good, but one piece of advice I always tell them: The job has only started when it is working. That doesn't mean you're done! :)
  - ryukafalz 4y ago
    This is how I often program as well. I’ve realized that when you do this it’s crucial to have lots of tests to validate the program’s behavior, because it can easily look right and mostly run right without actually being correct. Though this only works for the implementation side of things in my experience; you still need a good mental model of roughly what you’re aiming for architecturally, I think.
  - lioeters 4y ago
    Yeah, I'm the same way. I never sit and think a long time - I prefer to think by doing, to externalize my thoughts so I can move it around, change things, see the thinking process in front of me as code and observable bahevior. Then I just keep shaping it until it becomes what I envisioned at the start. But then, where did that "vision" come from? Thinking over a long time, usually days and weeks, sometimes years.
logicalmonster 4y ago
I've read anecdotes about genius programmers who just sit around playing videogames or watching movies for a bit while they work out the details of complicated problems in their heads and then just finish up and start typing out the right solution in one shot.
lloeki 4y ago
Also reminds me of Feynman, who Fixes Radio By Thinking!
hbosch 4y ago
I often operate this way, that I design and build and run or use constructions in my mind before I feel comfortable committing to sitting down at the computer and making it, or sketching it. I've been made aware, recently, that some people can't picture things in their mind, rotate them, apply physics to them, etc. One thing about working this way is it's very frustrating to people who operate by documenting in real time, in something like org or Notion. I am not a note taker and I never really have been. I actually find my thinking gets cloudier when I try to document something I personally find "intuitive". One example of this clash of styles was recently with a manager where he asked me, directly, how could I know how to design something if I hadn't written out the structure yet? How would I know to build space for a feature if I hadn't documented all the features that were required? I told him the requirements should be known, already, by anyone who was thinking about this problem... that for instance anyone who bothers to even imagine a "Create" action would automatically, symmetrically, imagine a "Delete" action and budget for that. He didn't agree and made me write it out anyway.
- groby_b 4y ago
  Good on your manager. Beliefs of personal infallibility are vastly overrated. Sure, some things come in pairs. Some requirements are immutable and obvious. That's not the interesting part of a design, and if that's all it lists, then yes, you can probably skip writing a ton of detail. (Although current and future team mates are usually appreciative of knowing how something was designed, instead of just having to read the code - it makes it easier to distinguish mistake from intent) But the meat of a design is in the trade-offs you made, in the choices that could reasonably go several ways. And no, for any reasonably complex system, you can't hold all of those in your head. And worse, if it's a trade-off, your weights may be wrong - your work is part of a larger effort, and you might miss constraints that seem "outside your area" but play into it.

alexb_ 4y ago

I saw someone on Twitter say that this isn't drawing, it's sculpting with Ink. Insane that he's able to do this.

skupig 4y ago

I found a lot of nuggets of wisdom in this collection of small lectures from his streams: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrg1NICzlqVc_fV37bT7VmySDoG0Bobeu https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrg1NICzlqVc_fV37bT7VmySD... RIP to a tremendously talented man.