I've gotten out of the habit of this, and honestly don't know if I'm better off for it. When I didn't have access to a computer, I would fairly regularly 'implement' designs with pen and paper and test it too. As you experienced, these would then work perfectly or nearly so on actual systems.
Now I almost always have a computer or computer-like device at hand so there's just no need. Sometimes it feels like this results in more experimenting, but less thinking.
That's exactly my point in a way. I realized that I am always immersed in technology. There are one or more screens of some sort in front of me nearly any time I am awake. A lot of us have lost contact with the idea and practice of thinking. Of talking to yourself. Perhaps doodling in a notebook to explore ideas and thoughts in your mind. For some reason I started to use flights as an excuse to practice thought. As noisy and uncomfortable as that environment can be I have found it amazingly effective for the simple task of letting my mind take trips in various directions with nothing but a piece of paper and a pen in front of me. I no-longer do paper-coding in flight. I think.
Flights are unpleasant enough for me that try to find some mindless entertainment to make the time go faster. I'm too tall to comfortably use a computer in my seat (especially when the ass-hat in front of me inevitably reclines). I don't know when unapplied thinking dropped from my list of entertainment options...
I have a trip coming up next week, seems like it might be a good opportunity to try to do something a bit more useful.
Thanks for your original comment and the sidebar conversation that led me to realize it'd be a Good Thing to get back to it!
Comments
I've gotten out of the habit of this, and honestly don't know if I'm better off for it. When I didn't have access to a computer, I would fairly regularly 'implement' designs with pen and paper and test it too. As you experienced, these would then work perfectly or nearly so on actual systems.
Now I almost always have a computer or computer-like device at hand so there's just no need. Sometimes it feels like this results in more experimenting, but less thinking.
That's exactly my point in a way. I realized that I am always immersed in technology. There are one or more screens of some sort in front of me nearly any time I am awake. A lot of us have lost contact with the idea and practice of thinking. Of talking to yourself. Perhaps doodling in a notebook to explore ideas and thoughts in your mind. For some reason I started to use flights as an excuse to practice thought. As noisy and uncomfortable as that environment can be I have found it amazingly effective for the simple task of letting my mind take trips in various directions with nothing but a piece of paper and a pen in front of me. I no-longer do paper-coding in flight. I think.
Flights are unpleasant enough for me that try to find some mindless entertainment to make the time go faster. I'm too tall to comfortably use a computer in my seat (especially when the ass-hat in front of me inevitably reclines). I don't know when unapplied thinking dropped from my list of entertainment options...
I have a trip coming up next week, seems like it might be a good opportunity to try to do something a bit more useful.
Thanks for your original comment and the sidebar conversation that led me to realize it'd be a Good Thing to get back to it!