
Programming Has Changed My Life - beekums
http://blog.professorbeekums.com/2016/11/programming-has-changed-my-life.html
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js8
I wish he was right, but I don't think he is. There is no evidence that
programmers are better at critical thinking than other people with comparable
intelligence. There is also no evidence, I think, that ability to think
critically in one field transfers to different a field.

I think what happened is that he basically developed his critical thinking
skills naturally, regardless of the field he was working in.

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beekums
Your point on evidence is dead on. This is an entirely anecdotal piece which
is why I titled it "Programming Has Changed My Life" rather than "Programming
Can Change Your Life Too".

The latter claim requires a lot more research because it is a huge leap.

Whether I would have developed critical thinking skills naturally can be up to
debate. The argument for programming being the factor is because computers are
black and white in the early days. Code works or code doesn't work. We don't
always get that direct feedback in human interaction.

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lfowles
>Whether I would have developed critical thinking skills naturally can be up
to debate. The argument for programming being the factor is because computers
are black and white in the early days. Code works or code doesn't work. We
don't always get that direct feedback in human interaction.

Glad I refreshed before I posted a similar comment! Feedback in programming
has quick and usually exacting results, giving you more feedback per unit time
to tune your critical thinking process.

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_ix
I reluctantly upvoted. The content is wonderful and that ought to be enough,
but the cartoon professor makes me feel a bit angry for some reason. Is this
the application of Spolsky's[1] (among other's) recommendation of avoiding
walls of text because nobody likes to read?

[1]
[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html)

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beekums
I'm sorry you hate the avatar! I get lots of mixed feedback about it, but
overall the feedback has been positive. I accept that I can't make everyone
happy unfortunately.

I am trying to avoid walls of text, but I think it is an unfair statement to
say that people don't like to read. People are reading the same amount of text
regardless of whether pictures exist or not.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the book, but there's one on brain
science that discusses how people process text. Letters are still images as
far as our eyes and brain are concerned. There's an extra processing step to
turn one type of image (letters) into another type of image (what the letters
are describing). This is exhausting and throwing in images act as "taking a
break" even if that break is only a second or two.

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satysin
Just wanted to say I really liked the little cartoons. Do you do them all
yourself?

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beekums
I wish I was that talented. One of my friends is an incredible artist and I
asked her to make those for me.

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djfm
Totally agree. I see programming as a way to run experiments on your very
ability to reason about things. Or on the thing inside you that has reason. I
believe much of the positive side effects of programming come from this.

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tgarma1234
The cartoons make it look like marketing copy aimed at non-programming parents
who want to buy lessons for their kids.

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chickenfries
So I take it they're a professor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor.

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mythrwy
Programming has certainly changed my life. Some of the changes are indeed
positive. However many of them are not. I wouldn't do anything else because I
love it but just like being a bricklayer or truck driver or a police officer
there are downsides, risks and cost associated with career.

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Clubber
It has certainly given me a long and gainful career that I otherwise wouldn't
have had if I had become a teacher or Accountant like I had planned.

My work ethic was mostly shaped by high school athletics, but perhaps codified
(pun intended) by programming.

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ImTalking
Didn't you just become older and more mature?

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rapjs
I think you might have just grown up. And also became less arrogant.

