Hunt - Pragmatic thinking and learning: refactor your wetware

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For my wife and children, and for everyone who becomes what they think.

Welcome!

Thanks for picking up this book. Together, were going to journey through bits of cognitive science, neuroscience, and learning and behavioral theory. Youll see surprising aspects of how our brains work and see how you can beat the system to improve your own learning and thinking skills.

Were going to begin to refactor your wetwareredesign and rewireyour brainto make you more effective at your job. Whether youre a programmer, manager, knowledge worker, technogeek, or deep thinker, or if you just happen to have a human brain youd like to crank up, this book will help.

Im a programmer, so my examples and rants will be directed at the world of software development. If youre not a programmer, dont worry; programming really has little to do with writing software in arcane, cryptic languages (although we have a curious attachment to that habit).

Programming is all about problem solving. It requires creativity, ingenuity, and invention. Regardless of your profession, you probably also have to solve problems creatively. However, for programmers, combining rich, flexible human thought with the rigid constraints of a digital computer exposes the power and the deepest flaws of both.

Whether youre a programmer or frustrated user, you may have already suspected that software development must be the most difficult endeavor ever envisioned and practiced by humans. Its complexity strains our best abilities daily, and failures can often be spectacularand newsworthy. Weve smashed spaceships into distant planets, blown up expensive rockets filled with irreplaceable experiments, plagued consumers with automated collection letters for $0.00, and stranded airline travelers on a semiregular basis.