Programming Has Changed My Life

I wish he was right, but I don&#x27;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&#x27;s[1] (among other&#x27;s) recommendation of avoiding walls of text because nobody likes to read?<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.joelonsoftware.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;fog0000000033.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.joelonsoftware.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;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.

The cartoons make it look like marketing copy aimed at non-programming parents who want to buy lessons for their kids.

So I take it they&#x27;re a professor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor.

Programming has certainly changed my life. Some of the changes are indeed positive. However many of them are not. I wouldn&#x27;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&#x27;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.

Didn&#x27;t you just become older and more mature?

I think you might have just grown up. And also became less arrogant.