Hi! DaniWeb has tons of intelligent people – woot woot! If they gave rewards for intelligence then, wow, - we might just have to go for broke!
But anyway, I surfed DaniWeb wide and far, long and deep, from uber smokin' article to article. A few questions and realizations came to mind. I have to admit that I am no Indian God of master programming, although, I think that would be nice.
One thing I noticed is many people are 'speaking in code' -which is super cool-, but there seems to be no bridge in the gap of communication for those aspiring on the root path.
Because we are super-duper intellectual, does this mean we bash' (lol) newbies as they are learning and assimilating information? Certainly not.
Remember, “We were all noobs once, and since code and technology is constantly changing, we will all be noobs forever.”
Is it not easier to create 'life code', then hack it until the spark of curiosity and seeking strikes an error code, and that life code dies? How would you feel if someone exstiguished your life code -or, the ones you loved?!?!? (Gack! - NO!)
There is no life code, or elite programmers, or technological social network without life code, or codes developing into archetypical bit stacks themselves without the 'breath code of life' giving fruition to their own original life spark, free to compile and execute into the electronic information clouds.
Code is a beautiful thing. When I see my family and friends and life around me, I see code that no computer could fully analyze or compute.
The Code of Life is the most beautiful and most important code of all codes.
If we are so elite, then, shouldn't we be able to guide others to enlightened understanding?
I am sure a few people would say 'no'. But then, what is the point of a technological social network (DaniWeb) if noobs get shot down?
Just by chance, I wanted to learn more about programming -and while surfing beautiful Indian artwork- and somehow DaniWeb materialized in a link as I peered into the oracle of my simple modded browser. And I was like, “oodles, DaniWeb!”
On my first day, I thought about contributing -and I did, and --- I got hacked when I made a mistake, and a vet user of DaniWeb hacked me! (Doh!). But, that is not the point -but to a degree, it is. (Thanks to triple virtual proxy dumb terminal for safety!! Blurgah!)
When you have ultimate power (which I feel programming is), with it comes ultimate responsibility.
Also, with so many PhD’s, and people with B.S. (lol), and Masters degrees, you would think they would be enlightened enough to 'TEACH' or guide noobs down the electronic bit-path(?).
As a musician, I thought about the same things. Of course I can program awesome tracks, but when I looked around and saw it was only me and my computer jamming out ------ I drew the same comparison to programming and the computer - “Sure, you can do something awesome, but if you have no one to share it with, what is the point?” Even with the best A.I., it will never substitute for human interaction. Really now, is your computer your best friend? (Seriously think about that.)
It takes no effort to sit behind a screen and hack others, but, what if you could build a better world supported by code, and help billions -no joke- in the process?
When I was reading the 'Tao of Programming' a big question hit me: “We are like compilers putting information together. Noobs need interpreters, so, even if we can make code sit and spin, why can't the most enlightened of us break it down in lay-mans (human) language.”
I had the fortunate opportunity to teach in one of my noobie programmers classes. The instructor was horribly mono-toned, typical super-geek that forgot they were human, with no ability to speak in 'human' because he decided he was 'no longer human', and was so smart that 'normal mortals need not apply to the heavenly abode of his God-like Masterful understanding of programming'. Then one day, he totally flopped. He just couldn't get the students to understand. Me being like the only person including five others understood, and being a master of analogy as I am (lmfao), I asked him if I could 'break it down in a way the students could understand'.
That day, I learned so much teaching others -with my own limited understanding. It isn't always about what you know -regardless of how elite it is. It is about whether others can understand it, computer included of course.
See, code is glorious, but understanding how to translate that into 'lay-language' is worth more than all the code in the world. I mean seriously, I love programming (still learning) but I do not know anyone who speaks fluent code, any more than knowing anyone who communicates in any language that is not totally human, you know.
Oh my, I can here the tongues of Uber Programming gods snicker. But really, if you are that bright, why can't you do it? What do you gain by bashing a noob? I think the bigger, more righteous programmer would seek to further their own understanding by enlightening the seeking noob. Really, it is easier to make a life-long programming friend, then hack a noob verbally, in text, or other-wise.
But really, to be a 'student' is one thing, the ability to 'learn how to teach others to understand is worth 1,000,000 master programmers, with Master or Doctorate degrees'. And, it takes the same effort to help someone to learn as it does to hack someone you have never met just because you can.
Big man little programming man -or woman complex? Plus, when you think about it, obviously you learned -or did you????? And, if you learned, then you should be masterful enough to guide the neophyte along the path. Teams of programmers do not come together to do awesome things without excellent leaders. For example: When I took a trip to a server farm for one of the biggest information companies in the world, the leader was indeed great -but the real kicker is that the leader was not a programmer.
For some reason, some programmers forget we are all 'human' -and will always be from the beginning of their life code, until their final 'run-time'. Such is the 'cycle of life code'.