Phenomenal Cosmic Power

Jeff Atwood thinks monkeypatching should frighten you:

But if wielding that power doesn’t scare and humble you a little, too, then maybe you should leave the monkeypatching to the really smart monkeys.

Reg Braithwaite thinks it should exhilarate you:

And ultimately, that is what this line of code says to me about Ruby. It says that this is a language where the fringe is inventing new things. And to embrace ruby is to embrace the idea of a language being propelled by its user base.

I’m okay with either reaction. Metaprogramming may be pure and godlike, but then again, thou art God. It’s the people who have no reaction whatsoever that scare me. Use of power should be conscious and intentional. Otherwise you’re like a woodworker who addresses a mismatched joint by just hammering harder.

7 comments

  1. The first place I saw the word “metaprogramming” was the title of “programming and metaprogramming for the human biocomputer” by John C Lilly. Brilliant guy, but when he started dropping acid with dolphins instead of studying dolphin intelligence he kind of lost me.

    1. I think it's awesome that someone else thinks of John Lilly when the term”metaprogramming” comes up. I haven't actually read any of his books (yet); but I've been reading Robert Anton Wilson, who references him a lot.

  2. I think it's awesome that someone else thinks of John Lilly when the term”metaprogramming” comes up. I haven't actually read any of his books (yet); but I've been reading Robert Anton Wilson, who references him a lot.

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