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> The reason abstractions are so valuable is that they allow for compression of something into working memory. I wonder if people with smaller working memory n
by nomel 2y ago
> The reason abstractions are so valuable is that they allow for compression of something into working memory.
I wonder if people with smaller working memory necessarily have more organized mental models, to facilitate the compression. People with autism [1] and ADHD [2] tend to have decreased working memory. Are their mental models more "optimized" for compression?
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7071553/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7071553/
[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7483636/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7483636/
- kqr 2y ago...or do they just perform worse on these memory-intensive tasks? The latter seems more likely to be common.
- notarobot123 2y agoBut the uncommon case is interesting though. Some deficiencies might lead to a certain kind of problem-solving that occasionally produces exceptionally useful solutions. Isn't that why we valorize laziness in programmers?
- nomel 2y agoThe overrepresentation of autism spectrum in programmers is interesting. Maybe the extreme hierarchy of code fits well.