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A Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community
About Me :
I'm a grownup nerd living in the Boston burbs. I write computer programs for a living and plays for fun.
I'm married to a wonderful woman, and we share a nice little house with our daughter and our cats.
I'm a humanist, a technologist, an artist, and an idealist. I believe in reason, freedom, love, equality,
and democracy. (Did I mention that I'm
an idealist? I did, OK.)
I'm also a pragmatist and an empiricist. I reject ideology and dogma, especially when they conflict with
practical facts (i.e., pretty much always). I particularly hate willful ignorance, which tends to go hand-in-hand
with ideology and dogma.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Masters and Idiots
My coworker Mark Waks has posted the following Programming Koan :
I'm proud to say that by Mark's definition, I've written some pretty masterful code in my day. I'm also ashamed to admit that I've written some idiot code. I will attend this lesson better. As to whether I'll ever become enlightened, who can say?
This koan does, however, put me in mind of the Tao's admonition:
My coworker Mark Waks has posted the following Programming Koan :
The mark of the Master is that any Idiot can maintain his code. The mark of an Idiot is that only a Master can do so. Attend this lesson, my son, and be enlightened.
I'm proud to say that by Mark's definition, I've written some pretty masterful code in my day. I'm also ashamed to admit that I've written some idiot code. I will attend this lesson better. As to whether I'll ever become enlightened, who can say?
This koan does, however, put me in mind of the Tao's admonition:
Great perfection seems chipped,
Yet use will not wear it out;
Great fullness seems empty,
Yet use will not drain it;
Great straightness seems bent;
Great skill seems awkward;
Great eloquence seems tongue-tied.