I wish he was right, but I don't think he is. There is no evidence that programmers are better at critical thinking than other people with comparable intelligence. There is also no evidence, I think, that ability to think critically in one field transfers to different a field.<p>I think what happened is that he basically developed his critical thinking skills naturally, regardless of the field he was working in.
I reluctantly upvoted. The content is wonderful and that ought to be enough, but the cartoon professor makes me feel a bit angry for some reason. Is this the application of Spolsky's[1] (among other's) recommendation of avoiding walls of text because nobody likes to read?<p>[1] <a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html</a>
Totally agree. I see programming as a way to run experiments on your very ability to reason about things. Or on the thing inside you that has reason. I believe much of the positive side effects of programming come from this.
Programming has certainly changed my life. Some of the changes are indeed positive. However many of them are not. I wouldn't do anything else because I love it but just like being a bricklayer or truck driver or a police officer there are downsides, risks and cost associated with career.
It has certainly given me a long and gainful career that I otherwise wouldn't have had if I had become a teacher or Accountant like I had planned.<p>My work ethic was mostly shaped by high school athletics, but perhaps codified (pun intended) by programming.