I was listening to a 404 Media Podcast (404media.co) interview with Samuel Bagg about his article The Problem is Epistemic. The Solution is Not. (apaonline.org). It’s a fascinating and unsettling claim that the way we process information and truth is through our social identities. Bagg explains the research behind this clearly and convincingly in the podcast.
About halfway through the episode, I starting thinking about my own social identities. And that’s when a realization hit me quite hard: I’ve lost one of mine and I’ve been subconsciously mourning it.
That lost identity was "computer programmer" and it was arguably one of my biggest.
It’s weird to say I’ve lost it when I’m still every bit the computer programmer (in both the professional and hobby sense) I ever was. My love for computers and programming them hasn’t diminished at all. But a social identity isn’t about typing on a keyboard, It’s about belonging to a group, a community, a culture.
What was my group? Well, let’s use me as an example.
I enjoy programming computers because they function on a set of precise and rigid rules. This creates a kind of fantasy world where you can gain wizard-like powers as you accumulate knowledge. Yes, programming is hard and it can be exasperating, but that makes the eventual accomplishment of mastering the skill all the sweeter. Over time, you gain fluency and dexterity as a programmer. It feels good.
Which is to say that the pleasure I get from programming is mostly about learning the underlying truths about computation and applying what I’ve learned. Always improving the craft. This, to me, is the practice of programming.
As the saying goes, the more you learn, the more you realize how much there is still to learn. I’ve spent countless hours over the last 30 years reading about, thinking about, and practicing the art, hobby, occupation, and discipline of programming computers. If only by volume, it’s a big part of who I am.
Socially, the "computer programmer" identity has steered my life in small and large ways from the websites and forums I visited to the friends I’ve made, where I work and live. It’s one of those things you don’t usually even examine because its so big you can’t even see it until you take a step outside yourself to get a different vantage point.