I think the most profound lesson to be learned in programming is how complex everything is. Computers aren't "dumb" -- they just don't share our language, cult

I think the most profound lesson to be learned in programming is how complex everything is. Computers aren't "dumb" -- they just don't share our language, culture, biases, etc. You have to specify everything exactly. If anyone has to be dumb, it's going to have to be us. Evolution helped us make sense of the complexity with a bunch of highly complex and very leaky abstractions -- "person", "God", "love", "nature", "property", "fairness", "consent" etc. Only when you try to describe these concepts to a clean slate such as a computer do you realize how complex the world really is. Moreover, these allegedly meaningful things all boil down to meaningless physical states and interactions, so you also get to realize that everything is pointless and what was it again that we are doing here?