It Is Not The Task

Yes, I Share Your Concern: How To Program Well -though A Teachable Topic- Is Hardly Taught. The Situation Is Similar To That In Mathematics, Where The Explicit Curriculum Is Confined To Mathematical Results; How To Do Mathematics Is Something The Student Must Absorb By Osmosis, So To Speak. One Reason For Preferring Symbol-manipulating, Calculating Arguments Is That Their Design Is Much Better Teachable Than The Design Of Verbal/pictorial Arguments. Large-scale Introduction Of Courses On Such Calculational Methodology, However, Would Encounter Unsurmoutable Political Problems.

Brainpower Is By Far Our Scarcest Resource.

I Don't Need To Waste My Time With A Computer Just Because I Am A Computer Scientist.

In The Wake Of The Cultural Revolution And Now Of The Recession I Observe A Mounting Pressure To Co-operate And To Promote "teamwork." For Its Anti-individualistic Streak, Such A Drive Is Of Course Highly Suspect; Some People May Not Be So Sensitive To It, But Having Seen The Hitlerjugend In Action Suffices For The Rest Of Your Life To Be Very Wary Of "team Spirit." Very.

Thank Goodness We Don't Have Only Serious Problems, But Ridiculous Ones As Well.