Search for a command to run...
An Offalyman in the Deep South, blessed with great people around me, and constantly endeavouring to discover meaning and truth... computer scientist, tennis player, naive drummer, cook, and a bunch of other unexceptional stuff...
No comments yet. Be the first to comment.
In "Life of Pi", Yann Martel suggests that the agnostic is fixated on dry, yeastless factuality. The agnostic is unwilling to give into childlike wonder and imagination, and thus, Martel goes on to say, is prone to miss out on the better story. The n...
Jaws hit the big screen half a century ago. It subsequently became the pioneer of the “summer blockbuster” in the US, and pretty much an instant global sensation. To celebrate the 50-year anniversary of this phenomenon, special screenings are being p...
So, it’s back at the beginning of this year and I’m randomly searching the wonderful wild Web to see if any of my favourite “old-timers” are playing live in concert in the upcoming year. I stumble on to some site in England: UNDERWORLD WILL BE LIVE I...
Copycatting is a huge part of who we are. It begins at a very early age as we begin to develop our skills of communication, and behaviour, and so on. And, we've seen how it can take over in various areas of popular culture, from mindless TikTok reels...
Recently, I spent 3 days in a little oasis, just north of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana (New Orleans is south of the lake, but, could have been a million miles away, rather than the literal forty). The Carmelite Spirituality Center was the host venue...
The great Donald Sutherland (88) passed earlier today, RIP. This fine Canadian actor was something of a rare breed. You were never quite sure what you were going to get when he appeared on screen. His character portrayals were rarely straightforward,...
About two billion people (i.e. 1 in every 4 humans on this planet) are gearing up to celebrate Easter this coming Sunday, in some shape or form. This is the most profound feast on the Christian calendar and, whether they like it or not, is indelibly embedded in the psyche of those who have been raised within the backdrop of a Christian belief system.
Most of us scowl at the thought of being coerced into the adherence to some particular discipline, be it theological, health related, work related, etc. We don't like the idea of becoming another little disciple. In today's world, we are conditioned to "prioritize" self...
I can be whoever and whatever I want to be!
I know what's best for me and what works for me!
I control my own destiny!
And you can too!
Now, if you'll indulge me, I'll ask you to reread the above exclamations...
Do they sound like they are being uttered by a self-centered brat or by an ethically empowered woke [sic] individual who wants to solve World Peace?
Okay, that's such an unfair/loaded question - let's park it and leave it as a rhetorical (eh, or, if you like, feel free to use the comment box below ;-)).
The point I will try to make here is that it's almost impossible to deny the paradox that exists in this realm; structure, order, and consistency (prime ingredients for being disciplined) are so often considered the recipe for a stifling culture, notwithstanding the fact that we humans are creatures of habit and most of us would concur that we collaborate more effectively when we're all on the same page.
Earlier this evening, I reprised my role as Pontius Pilate in a presentation of the Good Friday Passion at our local Catholic church. This political leader exudes one of the most underestimated of human flaws in the telling: indifference. And, more often than not, as we have here, the perpetrator of indifference goes into it with the awareness that this action (or inaction) will result in some form of personal gain.
We see these characteristics in many different professional walks of life.
In software development we have amassed a huge body of knowledge and experience in how we build and maintain systems that add some sort of value to humanity. In addition to the continuous development of better technologies and patterns for communicating with computers, the industry has a bunch of well known sets of processes, or disciplines, which development organizations selectively follow.
We talk about schemaless data models, object oriented analysis and design, asynchronous programming, machine learning, test-driven development, the Agile philosophy, and so on and so forth. Like all doctrines, they are there to be explored and to be utilized appropriately and wholeheartedly. Some are more complex and contentious than others - open to (mis)interpretation and prone to poor implementation. But, ultimately, they are there to help us to do our thing and to continuously strive to do that same thing, and to do other more interesting things, even better the next time!
