9. Certain forms of high-functioning autism correlate with programming ability. Is there a higher incidence of this in Asians? Or just more of a cultural acceptance of “programming” kids in that direction? e.g. Kumon
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19. “Good student” mentality can be so deeply wired. There’s a voice in my head tsking me for going off-topic. Off-topic. On Twitter.
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20. Tech Asians and tech non-Asians are more like each other than either is like their non-tech ethnic counterparts. But tech Asians are less different from non-tech Asians than tech non-Asians are from non-tech non-Asians.
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In the clothing-optional hippie spa my wife and I go to in Santa Cruz, cell phones are banned. In the Korean spa we dropped by on the Peninsula last weekend, there’s a hangout area where some people bring laptops.
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21. A dimension alongside race in tech for a 2x2: class. As a programmer, are you a wizard permitted to lurk in your tower and rarely emerge with a magical gem, or a soldier expected to sacrifice yourself to meet hard deadlines?
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22. The question here is not only “what class are you” but “what class is your boss”? You can’t do your best work if you’re spending energy protecting your boundaries. So that’s their job. Do they know that? Or are they the one interrupting you?
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23. There’s Dunning-Kruger risk here ofc. Everyone wants to be a wizard but starts out as a child getting lost in the forest.
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24. Programming teacher as wilderness survival guide (ranger, to continue the class metaphor)
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25. In the archetype of the ranger we find a connection back to apprenticeship in nature. Just follow them around & watch everything they do. Don’t ask questions just yet. Programming has a folkway dimension as well.
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Though in programming the actions and observations are mostly verbal, so our “monkey see monkey do” routines aren’t as smooth. Not quite the same as being in a martial arts dojo, watching the master demonstrate a move, feeling it in your own body.
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There’s a hunger for more embodied understanding of programming. Visual—NoFlo et al. Real-time feedback—
@worrydream. Kinesthetic? I hope it’s not just “smart clothes” that vibrate your shoulder when you have new email.Show this thread -
Bilingual people have an advantage when it comes to grasping high-level system design, because they intuitively understand there’s an irreducible gap between what something is and what you call it. So they can be more intentional about choosing names that clarify function.
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A polarizing example of this is the meme language used by the early devs at
@makerdao. I lock my gems into a cup (CDP) to draw Dai, but if the spot (price) of the gems (Ether) drops below the mat, someone can bite my cup and take my gems.Show this thread -
The jury’s out on whether this language aids or obstructs understanding, net. It becomes natural after a degree of practice, but is a big barrier to entry. What I like most about it is that its monosyllabic-ness. Maybe that’s the Chinese in me.
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32. To be more succinct about this point: bilingual people have a head start on being metasystematic https://twitter.com/levity/status/1207009909306351616?s=21 …https://twitter.com/levity/status/1207009909306351616 …
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33. The concept of parallax is useful here. It’s a generalization of “adding dimensionality.” Even if it’s not a “proper” dimension, a second point of view is useful. https://twitter.com/levity/status/1090329907819761664?s=21 …https://twitter.com/levity/status/1090329907819761664 …
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34. Unit testing creates parallax, because it requires the programmer to show the code’s behavior explicitly, in addition to having an internal model of why it works. It’s no guarantee of correctness, but two “eyes” are better than one.
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End of conversation
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