Thinking

I've decided that in an effort to get my blog to once again become active, I'm going to base much of my blogging on things I read else where on the internet. I installed this handy blogger extension to my web browser to help me quote and link these interesting pages. So for my first entry this year, I draw on some thoughts from a blog post about aging computer programmers losing their skills. Now while this post is specifically about programming, the points I will address I believe to be applicable to more general audiences. Davy Brion mentions his simple plan to keep his skills up in his Thoughts On Developer Longevity:

"

1. Keep feeling stupid

2. Question what you know and think, all the time

"

Now I for one agree much more with the second point than the first. However, to address these points in order, "Keep feeling stupid" is a directive to keep from being too confident in ones own skills to be willing to change and learn new things, especially from other people who might be younger and less experienced. I think that is a very valid motivation, but at the same time, "feeling stupid" can be a demoralizing practice if not done right. I would modify the first point to say, "Stay humble" since humility does not require the self-destructive practice of feeling stupid.

As for the second point, "Question what you know and think, all the time." I try to live by this rule in all aspects of my life. People close to me may notice that I ask a lot of questions and that I twist words around and wonder why things are said how they are said. For me, this is my way of questioning not only what I think, but what everyone else thinks. I know at times people think that my questions are meant to point out something wrong with what they have said or thought, but if anyone is reading this, I am much more hard on myself than I am on people around me. Every time I say something I ask myself why I said it that way. When I step over a crack in the sidewalk, I ask myself why I did that and whether it served a useful purpose or was merely an interesting diversion. So to me, questioning myself is a constant effort that I can achieve on my own. My greatest growth however comes from questioning others and learning about who they are and why they think the way they think. I truly believe that everyone has something good to offer the world, and I for one would like to hear your answer as to why you say "egg" they way you say it if you happen to be able to figure it out.