If you go to a University and choose a major with a career path you are choosing to be funneled into something that someone else has already created. You may bring your own talents and flavor to a field and you might even be exceptional at it. But chances are you won't make anything particularly new.
A person who mixes multiple fields of expertise to create something new is the bricoleur, or translated, the tinkerer.
Bricoleurs are multi-disciplinarians. In his youth, Michelangelo spent hours studying botany and human anatomy and making details drawings of various plants, animals, and cadavers. It was his knowledge of biology and anatomy that allowed him to be an exceptional artist. He was able to draw humans with a new level of realism. He could draw angels with wings that looked organic and natural. In addition to anatomy he was trained in architecture and metal-working. He pioneered a method for working with brass that allowed the construction of a life-size elephant. He was endlessly creative and used his natural curiosity that made him study many fields to make some of the most fantastic artistic pieces in history.
A person who mixes multiple fields of expertise to create something new is the bricoleur, or translated, the tinkerer.
Bricoleurs are multi-disciplinarians. In his youth, Michelangelo spent hours studying botany and human anatomy and making details drawings of various plants, animals, and cadavers. It was his knowledge of biology and anatomy that allowed him to be an exceptional artist. He was able to draw humans with a new level of realism. He could draw angels with wings that looked organic and natural. In addition to anatomy he was trained in architecture and metal-working. He pioneered a method for working with brass that allowed the construction of a life-size elephant. He was endlessly creative and used his natural curiosity that made him study many fields to make some of the most fantastic artistic pieces in history.
As a modern and possibly cliche example, think of Apple. When I was growing up in Utah in the early 90's my dad owned a computer training program for children and teenagers called Future Kids. I remember attending a course where a touch screen was demonstrated on a desktop computer. It was so clunky and difficult to use, I remember thinking, "why on earth would anybody want to use this over a mouse?" During the same period my father also had a brick sized cell phone that struggled to get reception and costed a fortune.
A little more than a decade later Apple released a much improved application to the touchscreen I had seen as a kid called the iPhone. Apple didn't invent cell phones. They didn't invent touchscreen technology. They didn't even invent the idea that a phone could browse the internet or send emails. But they did greatly improve the user experience of all those things while making it affordable for the average user. That invention has forever changed our uses for computers.
A little more than a decade later Apple released a much improved application to the touchscreen I had seen as a kid called the iPhone. Apple didn't invent cell phones. They didn't invent touchscreen technology. They didn't even invent the idea that a phone could browse the internet or send emails. But they did greatly improve the user experience of all those things while making it affordable for the average user. That invention has forever changed our uses for computers.
Technology has brought a new and exciting medium for the bricoleur. Virtually any field can be expressed or enhanced though the field of software. The most exciting element of software as a medium or tool is that it is dynamic. It allows a clever programmer to cheaply replicate their own innovation for the use of others.
The potential combinations and uses of software are endless. Whatever fields of interest--personal or professional--that you have, learning to intelligently code can give you the opportunity to share your particular genius.
The potential combinations and uses of software are endless. Whatever fields of interest--personal or professional--that you have, learning to intelligently code can give you the opportunity to share your particular genius.
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