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SICP really changed the way I look at computer science. So enlightening: data and commands are interchangeable etc. I was surprised to see so many bad reviews o

by kaiser 18y ago

SICP really changed the way I look at computer science. So enlightening: data and commands are interchangeable etc. I was surprised to see so many bad reviews on amazon. Although flipping through them, it seems they just don't 'want' to understand the book :(

gruseom 18y ago
it seems they just don't 'want' to understand the book :( I think it's more that some brains are wired for that kind of abstraction and some are not. Those who love the book are mostly the ones whose are. A similar (if not the same) phenomenon is that there are far more mediocre programmers than good ones... a simple fact which determines nearly everything about the software industry.
- maxwell 18y ago
  some brains are wired for that kind of abstraction In my experience if someone can't program it's not becuase they have the wrong static structure, it's that they're unwilling to dynamically metaprogram their thought processes and fundamentally reshape their mental models. far more mediocre programmers than good ones Same goes for actors and boxers and cops. This seems, almost tautologically, true of any industry. Why is this meme so prevalent?
  - gruseom 18y ago
    In my experience if someone can't program it's not becuase they have the wrong static structure, it's that they're unwilling to dynamically metaprogram their thought processes and fundamentally reshape their mental models. Either way, the point is the same: 90% of people (if not 99%) are averse to the kind of abstraction we're talking about. I have no idea how many are unable and how many merely unwilling; I'm not even sure the distinction matters or how you go about deciding it. (By the way, where did you get that phraseology? It sounds like NLP.) Same goes for actors and boxers and cops. This seems, almost tautologically, true of any industry. Why is this meme so prevalent? It's because the demand for programs vastly exceeds the supply of good programmers, which is the fundamental theorem of software economics (at least in our lifetime) and skews everything about the industry. Obviously the mediocre outnumber the competent at any activity, but that usually doesn't become the dominant fact about that activity. For example, there are many more bad musicians than good ones, but the demand for music doesn't vastly exceed the supply of good musicians. If it did, Lord knows what sorts of contraptions people would call instruments and mass-distribute. "We can't have pianos around here - how will we hire 100 musicians to play them in the future? And if guitars are so great, how come they're not more popular? Better to be a blubby-music-box shop like everybody else! Our clients expect it!"
    - maxwell 18y ago
      the kind of abstraction we're talking about You know, I wonder to what extent it's more the peripheral hassles than the actual abstractions. There's no way in hell I'd be a programmer if it meant working with punch cards; it'd be above my irritation threshold. There might be a lot of people out there who would enjoy programming, but installing and configuring a compiler and editor, for instance, are simply too frustrating/boring to them. There weren't many photographers when you had to develop your own film. (I think I'm paraphrasing a Steve Yegge essay... I'd look it up if I weren't on my iPhone at a volleyball tournament :p ) where did you get that phraseology? Sounds like NLP. That and general semantics I believe. I haven't read much of the primary works in either (yet), but picked up some of the concepts/terms from Robert Anton Wilson.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]

by kaiser 18y ago

gruseom 18y ago

it seems they just don't 'want' to understand the book :( I think it's more that some brains are wired for that kind of abstraction and some are not. Those who love the book are mostly the ones whose are. A similar (if not the same) phenomenon is that there are far more mediocre programmers than good ones... a simple fact which determines nearly everything about the software industry.

maxwell 18y ago
some brains are wired for that kind of abstraction In my experience if someone can't program it's not becuase they have the wrong static structure, it's that they're unwilling to dynamically metaprogram their thought processes and fundamentally reshape their mental models. far more mediocre programmers than good ones Same goes for actors and boxers and cops. This seems, almost tautologically, true of any industry. Why is this meme so prevalent?
- gruseom 18y ago
  In my experience if someone can't program it's not becuase they have the wrong static structure, it's that they're unwilling to dynamically metaprogram their thought processes and fundamentally reshape their mental models. Either way, the point is the same: 90% of people (if not 99%) are averse to the kind of abstraction we're talking about. I have no idea how many are unable and how many merely unwilling; I'm not even sure the distinction matters or how you go about deciding it. (By the way, where did you get that phraseology? It sounds like NLP.) Same goes for actors and boxers and cops. This seems, almost tautologically, true of any industry. Why is this meme so prevalent? It's because the demand for programs vastly exceeds the supply of good programmers, which is the fundamental theorem of software economics (at least in our lifetime) and skews everything about the industry. Obviously the mediocre outnumber the competent at any activity, but that usually doesn't become the dominant fact about that activity. For example, there are many more bad musicians than good ones, but the demand for music doesn't vastly exceed the supply of good musicians. If it did, Lord knows what sorts of contraptions people would call instruments and mass-distribute. "We can't have pianos around here - how will we hire 100 musicians to play them in the future? And if guitars are so great, how come they're not more popular? Better to be a blubby-music-box shop like everybody else! Our clients expect it!"
  - maxwell 18y ago
    the kind of abstraction we're talking about You know, I wonder to what extent it's more the peripheral hassles than the actual abstractions. There's no way in hell I'd be a programmer if it meant working with punch cards; it'd be above my irritation threshold. There might be a lot of people out there who would enjoy programming, but installing and configuring a compiler and editor, for instance, are simply too frustrating/boring to them. There weren't many photographers when you had to develop your own film. (I think I'm paraphrasing a Steve Yegge essay... I'd look it up if I weren't on my iPhone at a volleyball tournament :p ) where did you get that phraseology? Sounds like NLP. That and general semantics I believe. I haven't read much of the primary works in either (yet), but picked up some of the concepts/terms from Robert Anton Wilson.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]