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Programming is a Super Power

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61–68 of 68 posts

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#61
What does it mean to be superhuman?

We always think of superman or spiderman, people with the strength and powers of minor deities. But really, somebody who is a mere 1% faster at something than every other human on the planet is "superhuman".

Imagine a person who was 5% smarter, stronger, faster, etc. than any other human on the planet...would they not be a kind of "superman"?

My day job has very little to do with development, it's much more a regular old office type job (one of the reasons I'm so into working on my startup with my wife, a chance to dust off and regularly use long dormant skills). What's funny is on occasion I'll pull out a nerd tool, perhaps write a little Perl script to automate some mind-numbing task, and for that moment my co-workers think I'm a superhuman. What's even better is when I can teach them something that punches up their abilities a bit.

Really simple things, like navigating Excel better, or teaching them simple regular expressions. I taught a colleague some regex and he has payed it forward by single handedly rewriting the process model where he works, turning a grueling multi-week process of copy-and-paste (by hand) into a 30 minute regex exercise. He freed up 30 people to do other stuff because now that excruciating part of their business process has simply poof gone away and now they deliver 3-4 weeks earlier.

(I asked him why they didn't just use a technical solution earlier. He said his management listened to the complaints from the staff about the problem and brought in a bunch of consultants who recommended a very expensive IT effort, complete with 230 page slide deck. He fixed it with a $27 TextPad license and a day going over regex with me. Now he passes along this little sliver of golden knowledge, infecting everyone he can with it. But alas, most of his co-workers mere accept that he's made it faster, and think they couldn't possible do that themselves.)

It's not something intrinsic in developers that makes us superhuman, it's merely a willingness to learn and sweat through all the mental work. A person can improve 5% from where they are simply by a bit of effort, 5% isn't all that much -- does that not make them superhuman with respect to themselves? Can superhumanity be earned?

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#62
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Step into the 1970s, and try doing some of these things: - Professional-quality publishing (text, images, printing) - Sending text/images to your friend in another state - Looking up any kind of information (Library trip?) - Buying things that aren't at your local grocer (Mail-order?) Try this experiment: Spend a week doing everything without a computer. How productive are you, compared to before? How often did you f…

Step into the 1970s and not need to do those things. If you had to type stuff on a typewriter, you didn't spend hours picking out a pretty font, you used the one you got: the typewriter font. Nobody cared if your publishing wasn't professional quality, theirs wasn't either. You didn't IM your friends inane updates regarding your current thoughts on whatever Sarah Palin said five minutes ago, you sent them actually in…

"You didn't spend ten minutes debating between buying the 4ft or 6ft USB cables and finding the best price online because you didn't need to buy USB cables."

I do specifically remember running around for hours looking for the catalog of office supplies from my local office supply company then spending at least an hour finding the right kind of hanging folders to order (then waiting 6 weeks for delivery).

Repeat that exercise for pretty much everything from power cables to underwear and we're definitely in a better place.

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#63
post #29
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By this standard, pretty much anything that doesn't involve trivial desk job paper pushing is a super power. Bricklaying? Check. Welding? Check. Mech eng? Check. Digging ditches? Check. Everyone's special, Dash.

I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability) on one side, and bricklaying, ditch digging, etc. on the other side. Bricklayers and ditch diggers don't often think of something cool and then make it happen with those particular skills.

I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability)

For some reason that reminded me of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uQz_V0sbI

Watching the complex and beautiful movements of the various parts of the engine, the raw power, the drama, it took superhumans to figure this out, to contain tons of iron and steel, and water, and fire and turn it into something so exquisite and powerful.

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#64

It really isn't. Can we please stop the 'superhero' meme? I'm not a superhero. I'm just a person who knows a few programming languages and can hack things together. It's not a great feat: it's just typing bits of logic into a computer. If you can think logically and with a reasonable degree of abstraction, you can do it too! We should be shouting from the rooftop that it's fun and easy and giving children lessons in…

I agree with your characterization of programming, but I think a lot of people are taking this too seriously.

Obviously programming isn't a superhero ability, as superheroes do not exist. It's exciting and awesome to learn to be able to do the things we do, and that's what I took away from the article.

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#65
post #3

This week, I'm using my super power to replace a sign-up sheet in a clipboard that once hung on an office door. Is there any menial task I cannot defeat? I am Invincible!

I still have to push the button down to make toast, and watch it like a hawk so I don't make charcoal. Feeling ambitious?

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#66
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Step into the 1970s and not need to do those things. If you had to type stuff on a typewriter, you didn't spend hours picking out a pretty font, you used the one you got: the typewriter font. Nobody cared if your publishing wasn't professional quality, theirs wasn't either. You didn't IM your friends inane updates regarding your current thoughts on whatever Sarah Palin said five minutes ago, you sent them actually in…

"You didn't spend ten minutes debating between buying the 4ft or 6ft USB cables and finding the best price online because you didn't need to buy USB cables." I do specifically remember running around for hours looking for the catalog of office supplies from my local office supply company then spending at least an hour finding the right kind of hanging folders to order (then waiting 6 weeks for delivery). Repeat that…

Surely you must have enjoyed thumbing through a telephone book sized Computer Shopper magazine before?

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#67
post #49
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability) on one side, and bricklaying, ditch digging, etc. on the other side. Bricklayers and ditch diggers don't often think of something cool and then make it happen with those particular skills.

I've been learning to weld (using the TIG process) and it does have that cool mixture of being able to produce amazing, strong physical objects and also being Dark Magick for the average person. The TIG process in particular is a mixture of science and art that makes you feel like a wizard when you start getting good at it. Watching a professional bricklayer work is pretty mesmerizing. The really good ones achieve th…

I've seen robotic welders, but I've yet to see robotic bricklayers.

Re: Programming is a Super Power

#68
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You didn't spend ten minutes debating between buying the 4ft or 6ft USB cables and finding the best price online because you didn't need to buy USB cables." I do specifically remember running around for hours looking for the catalog of office supplies from my local office supply company then spending at least an hour finding the right kind of hanging folders to order (then waiting 6 weeks for delivery). Repeat that…

Surely you must have enjoyed thumbing through a telephone book sized Computer Shopper magazine before?

Ha! I haven't heard that one come up in a while. Computer Shopper used to be my regular Saturdays (and yes I mean the whole day).

When I was a kid I used to flip through the Sears catalog to the toy section.

I actually really like the catalog that ThinkGeek sends out. It reminds me of all the good parts of the SkyMall magazines, but with funner toys.

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