TITLE: Deeper Things Under The Surface
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: February 06, 2006  6:35 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
As a runner, I sometimes fall into the trap of
expecting to see progress in my abilities.  When
I expect to experience a breakthrough every day,
or every weekly. I am sure to be disappointed.
First of all, breakthroughs don't happen all that
often.  In fact, they don't happen often at all,
and when they do they seem to come in bunches --
PRs on several different routes at several different
distances in the span of a couple of weeks.  These
spurts often tempt me into thinking that I'll just
keep getting better and better!

But when these breakthroughs occur, whether alone
or in spurts, they aren't really the point.  What
you did that day, or in the previous week, isn't
often directly responsible for the breakthrough.
The big gains happen outside conscious sight.
After years as a casual runner, I saw my first big
improvements in speed and stamina only after many,
many months of slow increases of in my daily and
weekly mileage.  I hadn't done anything spectacular
over those months, just routine miles, day after day.
This is what the gurus call 'building my aerobic base'.
Deeper things were are happening under the surface.

I think that this sort of thing happens when we
learn, too.  Can I memorize facts and be a whole
smarter tomorrow than today?  Maybe, but perhaps only
for a short time.  While cramming
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2004-12.html#e2004-12-08T10_12_24.htm">
   doesn't work very well for running</A>,
it may help you pass a fact-based final exam.  But
the gain is usually short term and, more important
if you care about your professional competence, it
doesn't result in a deep understanding of the area.
That comes only after time, many days and weeks and
months of reading and thinking and writing.  Those
months of routine study are the equivalent of 'building
your mental base'.  Eventually, you come to understand
the rich network of concepts of the area.  Sometimes,
this understanding seems to come in a flash, but most
of the time
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-08.html#e2005-08-22T19_55_10.htm">
   you just wake up one day</A>
and realize that you get it.  You see, deeper things
are happening under the surface.

I think this is true when mastering programming or a
new programming style or language, too.  Most of us
can really grok a language if we live with it for a
while, playing with it and pushing it and having it
talk back to us through the errors we make and the
joy and pain we feel writing new code and changing
old code.  Students don't always realize this.  They
try to program a couple of days a week, only to be
disappointed when these episodes don't take them
closer to being a Master.  They could, if they became
part of our routine, if we gave time and contact
a chance to do their magic.  Deeper things can happen
under the surface, but only if we allow them to.

"Deeper things under the surface" is a catchphrase
I borrow from an
<A HREF="http://www.ronrolheiser.com/arc012906.html">
   article of that name</A>
by Ron Rolheiser which talks about this phenomenon
in human relationships.  After a few months in my
department's headship, I can see quite clearly how
Rolheiser's argument applies to the relationship
between a manager and the people for whom he works.
We can all probably see how it applies to our
relationships with friends, family, children, spouses,
and significant others.  I have to work over the
long term to build relationships through contact.
"Quality time" is a fine idea, and important, but
when it becomes a substitute for sufficient quantity
over sufficient time, it becomes a meaningless
slogan.

But I think this applies to how we develop our skills.
Just as in relationships, routine contact over time
matters.  In this case, absence may make the heart
grow fonder, but it doesn't make the heart stronger.
The cliche that better captures reality is "out of
sight, out of mind".

A lot of techie students aren't comfortable with the
sentiment I'm expressing here, but consider this
quote from Rolheiser's article:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
What's really important will be what's growing under
the surface, namely, a bond and an intimacy that's
based upon a familiarity that can only develop and
sustain itself by regular contact, by actually sharing
life on a day-to-day basis.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

It may be sappy, but that's pretty much how I have
always felt about the programming languages and topics
and research problems that I mastered -- and most
enjoyed, too.
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