> On 28 Oct 2015, at 21:49, Sam Penrose <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I wonder if it is helpful in effect to reverse the polarity of the
> identification, to say:
>
> Programmers spend their time getting complex systems to play nicely,
> which is a process of repeatedly getting stuck, then making some
> progress, then getting stuck again. If you have felt stuck or
> bewildered at any point this morning, you were at that very moment
> programming. You are a programmer because you have already done what
> professional programmers do. Of course, we all try to work efficiently
> and make progress. You don't drive a Jeep for the purpose of breaking
> down in the back country, but we all recognize that the occasional
> breakdown is part of the journey. When you are sitting next to your
> Jeep and the big rock that broke its axle, you're not some phony
> armchair traveller in your living room. Even if its your first trip,
> you are a traveller. You are in the back country, with bugs and mud
> and, hopefully, beauty and accomplishment. When the message from the
> installer makes no sense at all, you're not a fraud. You are
> programming. So get help or make do, but don't feel like an impostor
> or a failure. You are a programmer doing your work, and you deserve
> respect for that -- especially from yourself.
This is beautiful... I may quote that at the next workshop I’m teaching.
Lex
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