(This is a snapshot of my old weblog. New posts and selected republished essays can be found at raganwald.com.)
Sunday, December 30, 2007
At Last! Researchers explain why there are so many weblogs about programming and programming languages
The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge think that they know more than others who have much more knowledge.
Comments on “At Last! Researchers explain why there are so many weblogs about programming and programming languages”:
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And that is why I rarely if ever post about programming. Most people can't understand it, and the people who can know a counter-point to show exactly how stupid my programming posts are.
I'll stick to family photos and drivel. :-)
I'll stick to family photos and drivel. :-)
Most people can't understand it, and the people who can know a counter-point to show exactly how stupid my programming posts are.
Judging from the feedback I get in the comments, I would say that a few people can't understand it in a spectacular way, a bunch write to say "I agree, and here's something else you should consider," and then another bunch "know a counter-point to show exactly how stupid my programming posts are."
Worse, the last bunch have their own blogs where they write things I can't understand :-(
Judging from the feedback I get in the comments, I would say that a few people can't understand it in a spectacular way, a bunch write to say "I agree, and here's something else you should consider," and then another bunch "know a counter-point to show exactly how stupid my programming posts are."
Worse, the last bunch have their own blogs where they write things I can't understand :-(
Gack, well that just scared me out of writing about programming ever again...
I know, I'll write on politics, instead.
I know, I'll write on politics, instead.
Seasons Greetings,
It would be nice to examples. especially of the rarer-kind
the "programming giants of reginald"
It would be nice to examples. especially of the rarer-kind
the "programming giants of reginald"
Please don't feel discouraged in what you do here. I am sympathetic to the difficulty of presenting an idea as clearly as possible in one's blog or comment, and some folks are gifted enough to do an excellent job at that, including yourself.
Sometimes what I write comes about as negative, vitriolic, trollish, filled with Grammar errors on top of that. Not to mention that it could come slightly off-topic and not in a conversational tone.
You Mr., by your turn, gets it about right. Keep it up! Regards from Brazil!
P.S. My blog sucks. Just today I started a blog with this subject: "I figure I better give Flex 3 a serious try". And then I wrote what I wanted about it. Soon after messing with Flex a bit, I deleted the content of the post, replacing it with: "Or not..." Take that as an example. :-)
Sometimes what I write comes about as negative, vitriolic, trollish, filled with Grammar errors on top of that. Not to mention that it could come slightly off-topic and not in a conversational tone.
You Mr., by your turn, gets it about right. Keep it up! Regards from Brazil!
P.S. My blog sucks. Just today I started a blog with this subject: "I figure I better give Flex 3 a serious try". And then I wrote what I wanted about it. Soon after messing with Flex a bit, I deleted the content of the post, replacing it with: "Or not..." Take that as an example. :-)
I was casting about for a subtitle for my own new blog about programming. This is perfect: "an expert on the dunning-kruger effect"
Is there a name to the phenomenon of "feeling like a top programmer" when reading top programmers blogs ?
Is there a name to the phenomenon of "feeling like a top programmer" when reading top programmers blogs?
I call it "The realization that the top programmer blogs are written by rather ordinary programmers who happen to write blogs, and the feeling of extreme satisfaction when you discover that they are not nearly as smart as you are."
I call it "The realization that the top programmer blogs are written by rather ordinary programmers who happen to write blogs, and the feeling of extreme satisfaction when you discover that they are not nearly as smart as you are."
I'm not so sure this applies to Computer Science. It is still too young. We at that point where a PhD doesn't necessarily mean more or less 'accurate' knowledge about how to build software than thirty years of hands-on experience.
If you put these two up against each other their knowledge, understanding, practices and advice will be completely different and might not even overlap. Would you take the advice of one over the other? Are they both correct or are they both wrong?
Paul.
http://theprogrammersparadox.blogspot.com
If you put these two up against each other their knowledge, understanding, practices and advice will be completely different and might not even overlap. Would you take the advice of one over the other? Are they both correct or are they both wrong?
Paul.
http://theprogrammersparadox.blogspot.com
Paul:
I don't know about "they," but for me, I can state with some certainty that the more confident I am that I think something has a correct, definitive answer, the more likely I am to discover that I am seriously wrong.
I was partially joking when posting this, but the serious thought I have is that over-confidence in my own beliefs is a "thinking smell."
I don't know about "they," but for me, I can state with some certainty that the more confident I am that I think something has a correct, definitive answer, the more likely I am to discover that I am seriously wrong.
I was partially joking when posting this, but the serious thought I have is that over-confidence in my own beliefs is a "thinking smell."
I just want to cross this information with this one: "As our knowledge and expertise increase, our creativity and ability to innovate tend to taper off."
Those are not exactly contradictory, but in a world where we value knowledge AND innovation (and blogs), should we declare a war, like java/ruby or static/dynamic only type systems?
I'd like to see the blog fight between the dumbs and the old unadaptables!
Those are not exactly contradictory, but in a world where we value knowledge AND innovation (and blogs), should we declare a war, like java/ruby or static/dynamic only type systems?
I'd like to see the blog fight between the dumbs and the old unadaptables!
I figured you were having fun :-)
Sometimes I find it scary that we're probably not going to know in our lifetime if we actually understand what we are talking about or not. I just always fall back on a) actual experience, and b) denial (that's not what I really meant :-)
For software developers, I love the idea of Strong Opinions, Weakly Held. We should be confident in what we are saying, but not too stubborn. It matches the stage we are in as an industry: frequently changing; still searching for answers.
Paul.
Sometimes I find it scary that we're probably not going to know in our lifetime if we actually understand what we are talking about or not. I just always fall back on a) actual experience, and b) denial (that's not what I really meant :-)
For software developers, I love the idea of Strong Opinions, Weakly Held. We should be confident in what we are saying, but not too stubborn. It matches the stage we are in as an industry: frequently changing; still searching for answers.
Paul.
A sig line I've occasionally used:
"Programmers write more about programming than writers write about writing".
When they're not too long-winded, I kind of like reading idiots blather on in the wrong direction; It makes me feel superior, which is fun.
Years ago, I used to love reading the nutty rants of those who explained that DOS was superior to Unix, and would be around long after Unix was dead.
"Programmers write more about programming than writers write about writing".
When they're not too long-winded, I kind of like reading idiots blather on in the wrong direction; It makes me feel superior, which is fun.
Years ago, I used to love reading the nutty rants of those who explained that DOS was superior to Unix, and would be around long after Unix was dead.
Programmers write more about programming than writers write about writing
Some time ago I read the same claim and took a few minutes to look at books about programming on Amazon.
It's probably true if you include all of the books that aren't really about programming, but are really reference manuals, but it didn't seem to be a significant discrepancy when I tried to compare books that are actually reflective books about software development and programming against books about business or writing.
But certainly you can enjoy a lot of fun looking at my ridiculous posts and playing "count the instances of mouth HAS-A foot."
Some time ago I read the same claim and took a few minutes to look at books about programming on Amazon.
It's probably true if you include all of the books that aren't really about programming, but are really reference manuals, but it didn't seem to be a significant discrepancy when I tried to compare books that are actually reflective books about software development and programming against books about business or writing.
But certainly you can enjoy a lot of fun looking at my ridiculous posts and playing "count the instances of mouth HAS-A foot."
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