I like to believe I’m a clever fella and here’s my secret to being clever – I am always wrong. Always.
Programming is an exercise in overcoming how wrong you’ve been in the past. At first you’ll overcome the syntax errors, then you’ll overcome the structural errors, and then you’ll come to align your code with the standards of a greater community and you’ll feel safe and like you’ve made it. You haven’t – you’re still wrong because you’re always wrong. You are playing a game you cannot win. And let’s face it – if it was a game you could win you’d not be playing at all.
If you’ve written code then you’ve looked back at your work and known it could have been done better. Think bigger. Think beyond the micro improvements that could be made within the domain we understand best and consider the scope of our experience. If you’ve been around this clock as I have then you’ll recognize a good idea comes every five minutes and one that sticks every fifteen. Let’s not pretend that we know what time it is because we know what we saw last time we checked our watches.
At the top I claimed to be an authority and that I knew what the fuck I was talking about. That’s still very true – If you think you’re an authority you’re wrong. Take it from me, I’m the authority on authority and if you think you know better then eventually you’ll be in for a really big shock.
Be wrong as often as possible – It’s the only way you’ll ever be right.
Guy English — http://kickingbear.com/blog/archives/43
