Blog Journeys of a Lifelong Learner

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”

Isaac Asimov

Study globalism and tribalism.

Learn about economics.

Be a student of history.

Be careful about the sources you heed, treasuring credibility.

Refuse to make conclusions before considering ample evidence.

Recognize that you may not be qualified to examine evidence.

Discuss ideas and their implications, not candidates and their quirks.

Flee the intellectual debilitation of unchecked partisanship.

Do not confuse ecological responsibility and socialism.

Value domain knowledge by honoring the views of those who have it.

Listen to the scientists while you have the chance.

Understand that a debate between two opposing views does not constitute a quest for truth.

Resist the urge to vilify ideological opponents.

Learn from contrary perspectives.

Do not ignore uncomfortable facts that challenge your presuppositions.

Worry about being misguided, not about changing your views in light of new understanding.

Cultivate a globally aware perspective.

Seek prudence and truth, not conspiracy.

Avoid needless arguments.

Always be willing to learn.

Saints, stormed and surrounded by seismic seductions and slithering serpents, struggle and strive to stop serving sin, seeking, seeing, and spreading the satisfaction of the Savior.

Programmers who have moved into the realm of understanding always suspect their own work first because they know that they cause 95 percent of errors. Understand the role of each line of code and why it’s needed. Nothing is ever right just because it seems to work. If you don’t know why it works, it probably doesn’t—you just don’t know it yet.

Bottom line: A working routine isn’t enough. If you don’t know why it works, study it, discuss it, and experiment with alternative designs until you do.

Steve McConnell in Code Complete

Compiling before you’re sure your program works is often a symptom of the hacker mindset. If you’re not caught in the hacking-and-compiling cycle, compile when you feel it’s appropriate. But be conscious of the tug most people feel toward “hacking, compiling, and fixing” their way to a working program.

Steve McConnell in Code Complete

The vicious cycle of hacking and (in the case of web development) refreshing is highly tempting, but it does not foster development excellence.