Programming and thinking
Some thoughts on programming, and thinking.
At university in any introductory computer science class, the professor will talk about the history of how computers came about. The history. The ENIAC. Decoding the encrypted communication of the enemies decades ago. Since then we have come a long way.
To the point where every single person owns a computer. We are able to use it to read, write, think, do creative work like make music, edit video and photos. In colleges around the world, and on the internet, there are many people that teach you about programming. How to write software. With AI...
But the important question which is: the question of what to build. This question never gets asked. It is not something that can be taught. Because no one knows anything. A more academic way of saying that is "everyone is fallible". Creativity. Taste. Understanding. This is all unique to humans and cannot be outsourced to a machine. A statistical language model.
The best software is the one that affects, manipulates things in the physical world. It models the physical world. Helps you do things. Locomotion, food, housing, travel, fundamental needs of humans. The next tier is building things, software helps to build real world things like machines, robots, that help us automate or simplify our lives.
The next thing is entertainment. Movies, video games, videos, books and content. This is solving the inadequacy of the human mind. The need to be entertained, the software in all of its different forms provides a form of escape from the mundane routines of life. Apps that help you meet people. Podcasts that help you hear other peoples thoughts, etc.
In the modern world, most of the human life is spent looking at a screen. From the moment he wakes to the moment he sleeps, he lives in many worlds. Whether it is at work, or his entertainment, or even when he is spending time with his family.
The tools which were built to help us do useful things, now use us. As a product which can be sold to advertisers. We provide the companies with our attention in exchange for being shown advertisements. For more software and more products.
I wrote all of this just to explore and understand what is the real reason we made these tools. It is for us to think and create new things. This is what differentiates humans from every other creature in the universe.