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There's a quote I learned when doing theatre, which I've seen attributed to either the stage magician Doug Henning or possibly Stanislavski, describing the proc
by dpifke 1y ago
There's a quote I learned when doing theatre, which I've seen attributed to either the stage magician Doug Henning or possibly Stanislavski, describing the process of art as taking something that's difficult and making it habit, then taking something that's habitual and making it easy, and then taking something that's easy and making it beautiful.
For example, as an actor, you learn your lines by rote (they become habit), then you gain an understanding of the character's motivations (remembering the lines becomes easy, because of course that's what your character would say), then you work to tune your performance so the audience shares in the emotion and unspoken meaning of the lines (that's beautiful/art).
As this relates to software, I think it goes something like: you learn the magic incantation to make the computer do what you want (solving a hard task becomes habit), then you learn why that incantation works (solving it becomes easy), then you figure out better ways to solve the problem, such that the original friction can be removed completely (you find a more beautiful way to solve it).
- scarecrowbob 1y ago"Kneel down and you will believe."
- begueradj 1y agoThat quote is meaningful. In a similar context, Bruce Lee said about martial arts that "martial" is to discover the dangerous animal within us, and the "art" is to be able to tame that animal.
- gameman144 1y ago> the "art" is to be able to mate that animal. I'm assuming (hoping?) that this was supposed to be "tame"? If not, I've got some questions about Bruce Lee.
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- Phlebsy 1y ago> As this relates to software, I think it goes something like: you learn the magic incantation to make the computer do what you want (solving a hard task becomes habit), then you learn why that incantation works (solving it becomes easy), then you figure out better ways to solve the problem, such that the original friction can be removed completely (you find a more beautiful way to solve it). I've come to a less pleasant way of putting a similar workflow. If something hurts(in the sense that you dread doing it, even though it needs to be done), make it hurt as much as possible and keep doing it until it doesn't. Along the way you'll find the ways to make it easier, faster, more efficient, etc but if you put it off every time until you can find the fortitude to embrace the suck then it's never going to get noticeably better. Most of the time this is business process related, especially when inheriting legacy systems. Ideal outcome is that you understand it enough after really digging into it to cut out or replace entire swathes of the processes without losing confidence that it will continue to operate smoothly.
- adsteel_ 1y agoIn less poetic terms, the progression I talk about is "copy, choose, create". First, we learn to copy a solution. Later, we know enough solutions that we can choose the best for the situation and copy that one. Finally, we know enough to create our own solutions that are well adapted to the problem.
- randito 1y agoFor people wanting to dig into this idea some more, I'd recommend the book by Austin Kleon called "Steal Like An Artist." Also, there is some nuance in the book about copying and stealing, without being a thief.
- talos_ 1y agoAgreed on this view! Sharing some similar thoughts Paraphrasing a virtuous music band reflecting on their discography: "the first album was about what we could; the second one was about what we should" It also aligns with Gell's philosophy of art. Here's a wikipedia exerpt: > Gell argues that art in general acts on its users, i.e. achieves agency, through a sort of technical virtuosity. Art can enchant the viewer, who is always a blind viewer, because "the technology of enchantment is founded on the enchantment of technology"
- foobarchu 1y ago> "the first album was about what we could; the second one was about what we should" Funny enough, when you apply this to software it becomes the pejorative "second system syndrome" (Brooks, 1975)
- slt2021 1y agoin the world of music known as Sophomore slump: In the world of music, there is a common phenomenon known as the sophomore album curse/syndrome, where newly popular artists often struggle to replicate their initial success with their second album, which is often characterized by struggles in changing musical style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophomore_slump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophomore_slump
- 3abiton 1y agoThat was a beautiful quote, I can see some examples in my life where this applies.
- owebmaster 1y ago> As this relates to software, I think it goes something like: you learn the magic incantation to make the computer do what you want (solving a hard task becomes habit), then you learn why that incantation works (solving it becomes easy), then you figure out better ways to solve the problem, such that the original friction can be removed completely (you find a more beautiful way to solve it). Also known as "Make it work, make it right, make it fast" https://wiki.c2.com/?MakeItWorkMakeItRightMakeItFast https://wiki.c2.com/?MakeItWorkMakeItRightMakeItFast