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Greek myths of programming – how to find a mythological god of programming?

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Re: Greek myths of programming – how to find a mythological god of programming?

#2
Eris, obviously. The pursuit of some poorly conceived, irrelevant metric destroys all harmony, derails any progress, and leaves smoking wreckage and bad feelings in its wake. From which arise the next generation of efforts which inch progress along yet another bit, maybe, if we're lucky.

Re: Greek myths of programming – how to find a mythological god of programming?

#3

Eris, obviously. The pursuit of some poorly conceived, irrelevant metric destroys all harmony, derails any progress, and leaves smoking wreckage and bad feelings in its wake. From which arise the next generation of efforts which inch progress along yet another bit, maybe, if we're lucky.

Epimetheus

Re: Greek myths of programming – how to find a mythological god of programming?

#4
Eros. As articulated by Anne Carson:

"A thinking mind is not swallowed up by what it comes to know. It reaches out to grasp something related to itself and to its present knowledge (and so knowable in some degree) but also separate from itself and from its present knowledge (not identical with these). In any act of thinking, the mind must reach across this space between known and unknown, linking one to the other but also keeping visible to difference. It is an erotic space."

Re: Greek myths of programming – how to find a mythological god of programming?

#5
I would vote Hephaestus. Aside from what is mentioned in the post, Hephaestus [is supposed to have] created Talos. Talos was a humanoid perimeter patrol robot with offences capabilities. Maybe that makes him more Tony Stark than god of programming?

Re: Greek myths of programming – how to find a mythological god of programming?

#8

I would vote Hephaestus. Aside from what is mentioned in the post, Hephaestus [is supposed to have] created Talos. Talos was a humanoid perimeter patrol robot with offences capabilities. Maybe that makes him more Tony Stark than god of programming?

He also created νευρόσπαστα (neurospasta) to help him around, literally traslated, nerve-tweakers (w/ nerves that spasm). That is machines whose nerves constrict and relax without thought, i.e androids.

Re: Greek myths of programming – how to find a mythological god of programming?

#9
My first thought was Hermes, since he passed messages, defined scope, and was an important figure in alchemy. Alchemy, with its pseudo-scientific approach, its reliance on vaguely understood concepts, indecipherable symbols, and unreproducable results, best describes my relationship to programming.
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