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Subject:Magical Thinking: a Summary From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- AXIONET -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:15:41 -0500
Thanks for all the replies over the last couple of weeks about magical
thinking (you know, people's tendencies to memorize a procedure without
any real understanding of it so that they might as well be using a
magical spell).
The discussions I've been having off-list are too long to summarize, but
I thought I'd mention the more common points:
--Almost everyone agreed that deciding whether to accomodate magical
thinking or not depended on the audience.
--Where people split was on whether magical thinking should be indulged.
Some people thought that, for casual users of a product, it should be.
Others (including me) thought that even casual users would appreciate an
explanation suitable for their understanding and background (that is,
they wouldn't want to know the programming details, but would appreciate
a general voerview).
--several people pointed out that magical thinking is common when people
feel out of control. In other words, maybe people indulge in magical
thinking when dealing with computers because computers make them feel
uncomfortable.
--a few people pointed out that the high-tech world in general tends to
be superstitious. There's lots of neo-pagans amoang the software
developers, and many job sites have strange little superstitions (I
especially like the story about the nand puppet that people must don to
handle malfunctioning hardware).
Finally, I want to say that, at my present job site, people seem very
happy at the idea of abandoning their grimoires for more background.And,
as a former teacher, I'm very happy to oblige them.
Thanks again to everyone who responded to my original post.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
(bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com) (604) 421-7189 or 687-2133 X. 269
www.outlawcommunications.com (updated 25 Jan 1998)
"Spider spins its heart out, fox goes home alone,
Wisdom is a snake waiting underneath a stone,
Refuge is in silence or in any stony place,
I will not share your pity, your laws, or your disgrace."
--Oyster Band
