

Why Is Learning To Program A Good Thing? - nlwhittemore
http://devbootcamp.com/2013/02/12/why-is-learning-to-program-a-good-thing/

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doktrin
> _It is neigh impossible to program a computer without some semblance of
> empathy, albeit for a machine and not for another human with all those
> complicated feelings. You have to think like a computer: to envision how it
> will respond to an input and what its options are for subsequent action._

Solid. I've never thought of development in terms of empathy for the machine,
but it's a valid and interesting perspective.

Of course, one form of empathy that also gets cultivated is empathy for the
programmer. It's quite easy from a non-technical perspective to gloss over the
challenges that developers face when framing instructions for the inherently
pedantic and narrowly logical beast that is a computer.

> _An analogy for this argument is that learning to program today is a bit
> like learning to speak Phoenician if you happened to live on the shores of
> the Mediterranean Sea in late antiquity. You could probably get by just fine
> without speaking it, since most of the Phoenician traders you would
> encounter most likely have a rudimentary grasp of the local language._

I agree. One nitpick, on which I'm happy to be proven wrong, is that IIRC the
heyday of the Phoenician traders was well before what is normally termed
'late' antiquity (2nd century AD onward).

> _The correlation between literacy and political agency is undeniable. We
> would be foolish to ignore this correlation in an age of digital literacy._

Salient point.

What I find these discussions typically end up revolving around is to what
extent programming literacy should be encouraged.

From a macro perspective, we live in a world of finite resources, and computer
programming is far from the only important skill in a well functioning
society. Thus, how much is enough? To piggyback on the adage that "a little
knowledge is a dangerous thing", how little is perilous?

~~~
tannerwelsh
Good catch re: 'late antiquity' -> I should have been a bit more rigorous in
my research there.

I like your point about "how little knowledge is a perilous thing?" Completely
agree that programming is far from the only important skill. I just generally
think that demystifying what is popularly considered to be "esoteric"
knowledge is almost always good for a healthy society. The less we know about
how the mysterious machines work, the more we fear them and the more trust and
power we give to the people who can manipulate them. I think this is hogwash
and completely unnecessary since a computer is really just a super-fast filing
clerk [<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKWGGDXe5MA>].

