Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians?

#11

Post by barrydahlberg » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 2:19 AM UTC

Stormbringer wrote: post #7

According to Hofstadter (no, not the guy from Big Bang Theory, the one that wrote Godel Escher Bach, the eternal golden braid), it is because there are strong links between music and maths, and there are also strong links between programming and maths. Which suggests a solution to the problem of interviews and hiring good programmers. Take them to a Karaoke bar and get them plastered instead :D

I can code, play a tune on guitar and tap out a rhythm but oh my, you do not want to hear me sing. I'm not sure the maths carries over that far!

Re: Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians?

#12

Post by bmelton » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 2:26 AM UTC

I like to create. I'm a developer who doesn't feel too bad about his own design skills (even if they are quite obviously minimalist) - but I like to create things.

It's funny, my biggest weakness is shared between all my creative 'abilities', which is that I don't ever have the patience to 'learn' anything. I can practice all day long, and indeed, I've created quite a few songs on guitar that I'm proud of, but with the exception of a very few, I simply do not have the patience to sit down and learn somebody else's song, played somebody else's way.

(Oddly enough, this has RECENTLY changed slightly, in that I am doing my level best to learn how to play Rodrigo y Gabriela's version of 'Stairway to Heaven', which is, best I can figure, nigh impossible.)

Re: Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians?

#13

Post by daimyoyo » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 2:55 AM UTC

Both require spatial thinking. To imagine how notes come together to form music isn't really that different from how lines of code create a program. Although music gets you laid more, which is why it's more popular IMHO.

Re: Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians?

#14

Post by haploid » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 6:17 AM UTC

staunch wrote: post #9

Because half the population considers themselves musicians and you're succumbing to confirmation bias.

Beautiful. This is the correct answer. I'm sure well over half the developed world is currently "in a band".

My own anecdotal evidence shows no link at all between musicians and developers.

Re: Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians?

#15

Post by mattm » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 11:54 AM UTC

I went to salsa dancing for about 1.5 years. Pretty much every guy there who was a regular was either a programmer or an accountant. One day I asked my teacher about this. She said it wasn't just limited to my city, all over the world it's like this.

Her theory about why programmers tended to stay in dancing was that dancing is just a series of patterns. Programmers are good at recognizing patterns so dancing fits into the part of the brain that we are good at using.

Re: Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians?

#16

Post by Stormbringer » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 8:40 PM UTC

barrydahlberg wrote: post #11

Stormbringer wrote: post #7

According to Hofstadter (no, not the guy from Big Bang Theory, the one that wrote Godel Escher Bach, the eternal golden braid), it is because there are strong links between music and maths, and there are also strong links between programming and maths. Which suggests a solution to the problem of interviews and hiring good programmers. Take them to a Karaoke bar and get them plastered instead :D

I can code, play a tune on guitar and tap out a rhythm but oh my, you do not want to hear me sing. I'm not sure the maths carries over that far!

I can sing but I don't play any instruments. Some people play guitar, but not piano... your point?

Re: Ask HN: Why are so many programmers also musicians?

#17

Post by arctangent » Fri, Apr 01, 2011, 11:42 PM UTC

bartonfink wrote: post #8

arctangent wrote: post #6

There is a deep underlying relationship between mathematics and music: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_mathematics Computer programming is the practical application of a subset of mathematics, so it stands to reason that programmers will tend to be interested in music. (And, specifically, people who like writing code will also tend to like making music.)

I agree that the relationship is there, but I'm curious if there's any basis for your claim that folks who write software will also tend to write music instead of enjoying it in other ways.

It's a purely genetic argument, based on the relationship between genotype and phenotype:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genotype-phenotype_distinction

I might be stretching it a bit, but I think it's probably fine to assume that people with innate abilities will express them in multiple similar ways.