On Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 10:12 AM, John Gilmore <[email protected]> wrote:
> Ted MacNeil wrote > > | Pride? Maybe. > > making it clear rhat he doesn't get it. > > There is a very small book, A mathematician's apology, by G. H. Hardy > that I may well have mentioned here before. In it Hardy identifies > three characteristics that all those who do good, sat all memorable > intellectual work share. They are > > 1) more or less disinterested intellectual curiosity, the itch to know > how things work, > > 2) a sense of craftsmanship, pride in one's work, evidenced by a need > to do it as well as one can, and > > 3) ambition, a desire for recognition, "even money" in Hardy's words. > > Others in his view (and mine) will not and cannotr be expected to do > exceptional work. > > About those others? Well, paraphrasing Hardy again: Since they cannot > do anything really well it does not much matter what they do. > > John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA > > Nice post. I picked up this "tendency" in a series of college math courses (3) "Analysis of Variance", all taught by the same professor. I learned to love "elegant" proofs. I transferred this to my programming in that I like "elegant" programs. Well, another influence (for good or ill) was a group of us "geeks" who loved APL on MVT. We were all "if you can't do it in one line, you don't know enough APL! (or your just not too bright)" people. That sometimes carries over to my "professional" programming. I like efficient code. OTOH, I am also willing to write "junk" code if I really think what I need is an "ad hoc", single shot, program where getting an answer quickly is more important than doing it with CPU efficient code. "One offs" don't need to be efficient. In the context of this discussion, I like participating because it is fun. And I learn some really interesting things that I wouldn't otherwise know. So that my "normal" programs just naturally become "better". I.e. instead of only having a single hammer, I now have a tack hammer, a claw hammer, a sledge hammer, a jack hammer, a flathead screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver, and a torque wrench. That is what _I_ get from this type of thread. Not a "oh, my, let me rewrite the world". -- Wasn't there something about a PASCAL programmer knowing the value of everything and the Wirth of nothing? Maranatha! <>< John McKown ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
