An Acquired Taste

In college I took an artificial intelligence course. It was optional for computer science (CS) majors like me but oddly it was required for information systems (IS) majors. The end result was a strange mix with some students very interested in the subject and others who weren’t so interested. The instructor broke the class into groups and each group was assigned a topic to research and then present to the class. At the end of the presentation each group gave out an assignment to facilitate deeper understanding of the topic. Never in all my school years did I witness a larger divide between two groups of people. The IS majors wanted to give out a research paper as their assignment; at this the CS majors revolted. Why did we revolt? Because creating a program is incredibly fun, while writing a research paper is not. This is hard for non-programmers to believe, but it’s true. Most people seem to view programming as tedious and boring when in reality it’s an engaging creative process. Programming is like combining a logical puzzle with a creative construction process. In the end you have built something new and useful, something akin to an intricate, functioning clock. It is extremely satisfying.

But this isn’t about programming, it’s about the merits of writing. Even as a lifelong reader it somehow took a long time for me to discover the immense value of great writing. Perhaps it never sunk in just how difficult it can be to convey clear concise meaning on paper; not to mention uplifting, engaging, and informative. Some seem to do it so effortlessly. A great writer opens doors of understanding, shares insights that expand our horizons, entertains with humor and imagination.

Writing is now something I enjoy and look to as a way to understand and organize my own thoughts and even to generate new ideas. If this interest came naturally it certainly didn’t manifest itself in school assignments. Perhaps I’m the only one that agrees with Paul Graham on this, but it sure seems the traditional academic approach is less than ideal.

I found Richard Light’s book “Making the Most of College” very interesting. In it their research found that courses with more writing were more engaging for students. A review from MIT indicates that this may only be true in liberal arts programs; they just couldn’t see writing superseding science and engineering. My experiences, as sampled above, support MIT’s viewpoint. On this however I have a theory; writing is a creative process and we’re hard wired to create things. Those not actively engaged in some sort of creative process can look to writing to fulfill that need. Certainly we learn better by doing instead of just absorbing, but this goes beyond that. Through writing we’re able come up with new ideas or express old ideas in a new way or maybe just in our own way. Thus writing is a universal medium of creation, a way to to produce something tangible and useful. Even those engaged in highly creative processes need a way to share ideas, learn from others, and keep track of what they’ve already learned. Those that can attain great skill in writing to complement proficiency in a profession or area of interest are extremely valuable and quite rare. In following software development blogs there are a lot of people that share incredible ideas but only a few that are truly great writers.

My circular thought arcs here are a little confusing; is it writing or programming? Were the IS majors right in that a research paper would have been most helpful? The answer is no, to learn about programming the best thing to do is program and furthermore an assigned research paper is not really the type of writing that I’m referring to. Honestly, when was the last time you were inspired by a research paper? Inspiration really is what we’re dealing with here. When I read something great it inspires me to do more and be better. It also increases my desire to write because I will learn something from writing and maybe someone else will find what I write to be useful.

So my intent here is to share experiences, record my own learning processes, and explore new ideas; all in the hope that it proves useful, at least to me.