TITLE: Shape, or Be Shaped
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: November 13, 2010  9:28 AM
DESC: 
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BODY:
Playwright Arthur Miller is often quoted as saying:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
Man must shape his tools lest they shape him.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

I read this again yesterday, in the online book
<A HREF="http://zenhabits.net/focus-book/">
   Focus</A>,
while listening to faculty at a highly-ranked
local school talk about the value of a liberal arts
education.  The quote reminds me about one of the
reasons I so like being a computer scientist.  I
can shape my tools.  If I need a new tool, or even
a new kind of tool, I can make it.

Our languages are tools, too.  We can shape them,
grow them, change them.  We can create new ones.
(Thanks, Matz.)

Via the power of the Internet I am continuously
surrounded by colleagues smarter and more motivated
than I doing the same.  I've been enjoying watching
Brian Marick tweet about his thoughts and decision
making as he implements
<A HREF="https://github.com/marick/Midje/blob/master/README.md">
   Midje</A>
in Clojure.  His ongoing dialog reminds me that I
do not have to settle.
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