RouseWorld | Wayward Packet

For the Week of 9/23/01

Learning Software:
Approaching computers through Zen

(Goldsboro) — Different people have different ways of trying to learn computer software. Some people attempt to break down every task into a set of fixed steps and then memorize the steps. The problem is that these procedures are fragile and inflexible — and so are useless if something changes. My philosophy is, well, different.

Here I present a fragment of a conversation (more or less verbatim) from a few days ago:

Student: I don't think I'll ever be able to remember all of the steps of everything I'm supposed to do here.
Me: I advise against keeping such lists of procedures. It is enough to know what is possible, then you will know how to accomplish all things.
Student: Now ... that's impossible.
Me: Yes.

At the risk of taking things to far I think that there are many parallels between learning a sufficiently complex computer application (say Adobe Photoshop, Quark's QuarkXPress or Microsoft's trinity — MS Office) and undertaking a religious understanding. Just as no one person can encompass the complexity of these programs, no one person can encompass the mystery of God (or what have you).

Certainly there is functionality in Photoshop that I either reject or can't find the time to study, much in the same way that an American Catholic might reject some teachings of Rome while allowing other teachings to be learnt by others. But to be a truly proficient user of Photoshop or religion, one must go beyond simple catechisms and plunge oneself into study.

And even if it is impossible to know everything, coming to a broad understanding of how a computer program (or Operating System) works (or, perhaps more importantly, wants to work) may mean the difference between earthly peace or torment.

Sadly, QuarkXPress cannot help with the afterlife.