
Programming and Painting - fagnerbrack
http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html
======
fagnerbrack
Old, but gold. Here's a response:
[http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm](http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm)

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kemiller2002
I have to admit, I'm rather disappointed with his response. I don't know a
whole lot about the techniques of painting, and the way he described how
Graham was incorrect about his statements was the start of something that
could have been an amazing essay. He then had to make blanket statements about
both painters and programmers, that are both way over generalized, and sexist.
It's too bad, because he seems to be well versed in both painting and
programming.

~~~
theoh
Can't comment on the respondent's actual attitude to women.

As far as painters vs hackers goes, this is a topic which really lends itself
to generalisations. They are fundamentally different kinds of person. Here's
another attempted refutation of PG, just off the cuff:

Painters (artists in general) need charisma to succeed. It's rare for them to
become deeply involved in complex bodies of knowledge -- this doesn't pay off
because the audience for art resembles the general public: it's not
specialized. Among artists, painters in particular think visually and
spatially, but the most technical ideas they are involved with are usually to
do with the practical chemistry of artists' materials.

Hackers are generally all about gaining knowledge of complex systems. They
like to improvise and work in a self reliant way -- so, like painters, they
are individualists. Do hackers pursue charisma? In a way, yes. The Unix hacker
stereotype is a charismatic in a crude way (elitist, beard, sandals). But
hackers are charismatic members only within a culture of technicians, and
relative to that culture. Technicians are stereotypically not charismatic, or,
at least, any charisma that they have is irrelevant to their effectiveness as
technicians. This is essentially the cultural definition of a technician:
[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TechnicianVersusP...](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TechnicianVersusPerformer)

Charismatics, with their Reality Distortion Fields, are sometimes mistrusted
in the technical domain. Part of this has to do with the typically
narcissistic or otherwise non-normative personality of charismatic
individuals. That same pattern is absolutely expected and tolerated in the
arts, painting especially.

So, the overlap between hackers and painters is quite minimal. The most
painter-like hackers are the ones with the worrying large egos. The most
hacker-like painters don't succeed as big name artists and end up teaching and
pottering around with art materials.

~~~
contingencies
Those who consider unix hackers crude are doomed to reinvent them, poorly.

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muzani
I'm quite intrigued that this essay pops up every few years. It seems to
resonate deeply with certain people for some reason, like they've been
searching for something and this essay unlocks it.

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ihale
I don't know about you, but it helps put my overly large ego in check.

I especially like the read of Technician vs Performer. It truly unlocked
something: it helps me rekindle the passion I had when I first started.

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useranme
Does anyone know what the broken link in the essay used to link to?

[http://www.paulgraham.com/piraha.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/piraha.html)

~~~
brandonhsiao
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060211013646/http://www.paulgr...](https://web.archive.org/web/20060211013646/http://www.paulgraham.com/piraha.html)

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rurban
(2003) please

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flute
I like the architect/engineer analogy, to explain the dichotomy. I use it all
the time, when my friends or relatives ask me to fix their computer. I tell
them it's like calling an architect when your bathroom pipes get clogged.

~~~
enneff
Except as a programmer you can probably fix their problems (you just don’t
want to). An architect does not have the skills to fix plumbing.

~~~
bigger_cheese
It's a poor metaphor. I'm an engineer and I still call a plumber.

What I enjoy about Engineering is that you have a set of constraints and you
have the challenge of working within those constraints to solve a problem in a
feasible manner. All most everything can be boiled down to an optimization
problem, make this reactor use less fuel, make this engine deliver more power,
make this component lighter etc.

To create my own (bad) metaphor engineering is about coloring between the
lines in the most efficient way possible. Science is what draws the lines and
engineering is what fills them in.

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rock8y
I just picked up Hackers and Painters by PG at local library. Hoping its a
good read !

