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Definitely going to read it, but for once I would like someone like that to have experience with programming before they start lecturing on what is "real" and t

Definitely going to read it, but for once I would like someone like that to have experience with programming before they start lecturing on what is "real" and the praising superiority of the physical experience. Not everything digital is a mere distraction.

pandler 12y ago
Why do you think experience with programming is relevant to that?
borgia 12y ago
>Definitely going to read it, but for once I would like someone like that to have experience with programming before they start lecturing on what is "real" and the praising superiority of the physical experience. Not everything digital is a mere distraction. You're absolutely right. These things seem to make the assumption that you can't get the same satisfaction from crafting something digitally as you can from say working on a motorbike. I would be interested to see a study, if it's not already available, on the psychological experience between people carrying out both, and the sense of satisfaction received when they determine a "job well done" in either medium. But that's not to say I don't agree with him in many ways. I'm a software developer and often, and as I'm getting towards my 30s now, feel like I've totally surrounded myself in the digital and have put the physical on a shelf that is only continuing to gather dust. I find myself yearning for something more "substantial" and to be able to come to old age knowing I've done more than written a few programs or whatever but then I find myself so distracted when it comes to actually seeking out things of substance, often simply falling back on the comfort of the digital. I've a massive stack of books I've been trying to get through and can see myself adding more to it with this, and probably some similar books like "The Shallows" and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I'm glad to see this sort of content appearing on HN regularly though, as it's a sign I'm not alone in how I'm feeling and that others are working through the same issues. Between things like this, the massive growth in interest in craft beers, the middle class worker fueling an interest in things like drinking in warehouses, farmers markets, etc. there is obviously a significant amount of people in the rat race who are grasping for something of "substance" and not the bland, mass produced, formulated and heavily marketed lifestyle we've somewhat fallen into in the last few decades.
- keithpeter 12y ago
  I think the craft process can work both in the digital and material domains. The key is individual responsibility for a piece of work, and feedback from the materials. Another book for your list... The Craftsman by Richard Sennett (Sociology professor, musician and sometime Linux user).

pandler 12y ago

Why do you think experience with programming is relevant to that?

borgia 12y ago

>Definitely going to read it, but for once I would like someone like that to have experience with programming before they start lecturing on what is "real" and the praising superiority of the physical experience. Not everything digital is a mere distraction. You're absolutely right. These things seem to make the assumption that you can't get the same satisfaction from crafting something digitally as you can from say working on a motorbike. I would be interested to see a study, if it's not already available, on the psychological experience between people carrying out both, and the sense of satisfaction received when they determine a "job well done" in either medium. But that's not to say I don't agree with him in many ways. I'm a software developer and often, and as I'm getting towards my 30s now, feel like I've totally surrounded myself in the digital and have put the physical on a shelf that is only continuing to gather dust. I find myself yearning for something more "substantial" and to be able to come to old age knowing I've done more than written a few programs or whatever but then I find myself so distracted when it comes to actually seeking out things of substance, often simply falling back on the comfort of the digital. I've a massive stack of books I've been trying to get through and can see myself adding more to it with this, and probably some similar books like "The Shallows" and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I'm glad to see this sort of content appearing on HN regularly though, as it's a sign I'm not alone in how I'm feeling and that others are working through the same issues. Between things like this, the massive growth in interest in craft beers, the middle class worker fueling an interest in things like drinking in warehouses, farmers markets, etc. there is obviously a significant amount of people in the rat race who are grasping for something of "substance" and not the bland, mass produced, formulated and heavily marketed lifestyle we've somewhat fallen into in the last few decades.

keithpeter 12y ago
I think the craft process can work both in the digital and material domains. The key is individual responsibility for a piece of work, and feedback from the materials. Another book for your list... The Craftsman by Richard Sennett (Sociology professor, musician and sometime Linux user).