Programming is destroying my capacity for reflective thought
23rd May 2008
It is always soul-satisfying to have some external object that rationalizes what we would otherwise have to admit are merely character flaws. Hence the Guardian, noted socialist rag, is an appropriate venue for this article — after all, that’s what socialists do best.
The truth is that programming improves the quality of reflective thought, because it requires attention to detail — you can’t just say “whatever” and have code work. The same goes for ideas, although the feedback is less immediate: If a professor or a pundit were confronted with a Blue Screen of Death every time he said something stupid, the world would be a better place.
As Francis Crawford of Lymond famously said, “You must carry polish and precision into everything you do.”