Why you should shut up if you see me coding



Most people consider programmers to be awkward because they don’t like to be interrupted while working or they don’t like to chat while working. This is as false as it can get: we like (and in the same time dislike) doing this as the next profession. We simply can’t.

 

Imagine you are a carpenter. Most of your job will be sawing off pieces of wood, drilling holes and the likes. Non mind stretching tasks. Of course you can chat while you saw. Now you have to join 3 pieces of wood together. What do you do? Keep talking and somehow join them? No, you stop blabbering and think how are you going to do that. 

 

How about a mathematician? Does he chat with anyone while he solves a math problem? Try disturbing him and he will send you straight to hell. How about an artist? Will you interrupt one while he is creating a new piece? No, because he will kick your behind while sending you to hell. What about speaking with a mathematician while he sharpens his pencil, or with a painter while he prepares a new canvas, or with a musician while he plays a well reversed piece? You might be astonished to learn that he can talk (I don’t know about flying thoug…) and that’s because, this task is not mentally challenging as solving a math problem, painting something new or creating a new piece of music. A programmer is supposed to solve a problem, compose a new piece of music or paint a new picture for most of the work day. We don’t have as many repetitive tasks as other professions and along with the sheer difficulty of writing there is little brain power remaining to be allocated on chatting or paying attention to blabber. 

 

Do an experiment: go to Wikipedia, search for whatever comes to your mind at that moment and read the page. Then write on paper (or type) 3 paragraphs about what you just read while you tell two jokes. See if you can do it.