Dependence on Programming Experts

[Richmond Mathewson]

Bob Sneidar wrote:

"I was just telling someone the other day, the main draw of computer
programming is that it offers a "perfect world" where if you do
everything right, you get out of it exactly what you expect, unlike
the real world, where you can do everything right and have everything
go oh so wrong.

Computer programming is like playing with a virtual constructor kit.  
We love it because building things (even virtual things) is a whole  
lot of fun! Building things which other people find useful is even  
more fun! Which goes to another theory I have, and that is that we  
never stop being children. We just learn to handle responsibility  
better."

And I am inclined to agree. However the level of abstract and logical thinking 
required for really good computer programming requires a certain amount of
psychological maturity.

Now - back to my maladjusted kid!

I don't see the world of computer programming as a "psychological save-haven"
away from the buffettings of everyday life. After all, a brilliant computer 
programmer who cannot pitch her/his idea to the customer/end-user is still
nothing more than a socially disfunctional zero; similarly, a brilliant computer
programmer who cannot listen and understand a customer/end-user's needs
 and implement them in a way that the end-user can work with is nothing more
than the geeky person in the psychological anorak.

What I do see, is that after 2 weeks, my maladjusted kid has, by managing to
produce something that works (side-scrolling 2D game at the moment), gained
a leevl of confidence that he managed to open his mouth to somebody other
than "Mummy" and "Teacher" for possibly the first time in 10 years.

I would be extremely worried if I thought that any kid, maladjusted or not,
who spent some time under my tutelage would end up as a mono-maniac
who had to have a mouse "surgically implanted into his hand" or could
only have conversations of the sort:

"Hi, On MouseUp, If What Then? End If"

sincerely, Richmond Mathewson

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"Philosophical problems are confusions arising owing to the fluidity of meanings users attach to words and phrases."
                                       Mathewson, 2006
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