Refactoring Translucence
When I first started Translucence, I approached it sort of like a book with each post being a small chapter. However, I've realized that I've put far more constraints on this blog than I should have and those constraints have reduced both its usefulness and how much effort is required of me to post anything. (I think if most bloggers were required to put as much effort into their posts as I did, blogging in general would go extinct.)
To remedy the problems in my design of Translucence, with my last post I broke the mold a little by moving away from the book model, and now I'm going to make this blog even more laid-back by broadening its scope to include computer programming as a topic and making it more like a traditional blog where everything is more random and off the top of my head.
And since I'm doing that, I might as well clarify my fascination with God, art, and computer programming. Up front, I'll point out that the other two are subservient to my interest in God. Art and programming are simply means to an end, and God is the end.
I've seen a lot of people combine God and art, but for most people computer programming would be the "odd man out" since I haven't seen any analogies made between God and computer programming, and for most people art and programming are practically antonyms.
And yet for me these are all integral. Eventually I hope I can reach a state where I can freely say that my profession is "Abstract Engineer", because that is a more accurate job description of what I do. Saying I am a graphic artist or a software engineer just doesn't cut it. Those are simply tools to allow me to explore and utilize the world of abstractions that God created.
For example, I approach art like an engineer. I analyze it as deeply as humanly possible and develop systems to construct art. Every work of art is a system. Most any artist I've ever come across has cringed when they come face-to-face with exactly how I go about making art. To artists in general my methods seem very constrained, coldly rational, and cumbersome. And yet even though I have received many critiques on my art, none of them have ever been about it being constrained, coldly rational or cumbersome. Most people undervalue software engineering, and one of my goals is to show people how the principles I've learned through software engineering apply throughout life.
The same goes for my theology. The foundation of my beliefs is the Bible, but my understanding of logic and conceptualization is heavily derived from my experiences with computer programming, and so is my understanding of hermeneutics (the science of accurately interpreting the Bible). And conversely, in both art and software design I can see the staggering order and patterns that unquestionably point to an intelligent Creator of this universe. Computer programming, like everything else in this world, is another thing that displays the glory of God.
To remedy the problems in my design of Translucence, with my last post I broke the mold a little by moving away from the book model, and now I'm going to make this blog even more laid-back by broadening its scope to include computer programming as a topic and making it more like a traditional blog where everything is more random and off the top of my head.
And since I'm doing that, I might as well clarify my fascination with God, art, and computer programming. Up front, I'll point out that the other two are subservient to my interest in God. Art and programming are simply means to an end, and God is the end.
I've seen a lot of people combine God and art, but for most people computer programming would be the "odd man out" since I haven't seen any analogies made between God and computer programming, and for most people art and programming are practically antonyms.
And yet for me these are all integral. Eventually I hope I can reach a state where I can freely say that my profession is "Abstract Engineer", because that is a more accurate job description of what I do. Saying I am a graphic artist or a software engineer just doesn't cut it. Those are simply tools to allow me to explore and utilize the world of abstractions that God created.
For example, I approach art like an engineer. I analyze it as deeply as humanly possible and develop systems to construct art. Every work of art is a system. Most any artist I've ever come across has cringed when they come face-to-face with exactly how I go about making art. To artists in general my methods seem very constrained, coldly rational, and cumbersome. And yet even though I have received many critiques on my art, none of them have ever been about it being constrained, coldly rational or cumbersome. Most people undervalue software engineering, and one of my goals is to show people how the principles I've learned through software engineering apply throughout life.
The same goes for my theology. The foundation of my beliefs is the Bible, but my understanding of logic and conceptualization is heavily derived from my experiences with computer programming, and so is my understanding of hermeneutics (the science of accurately interpreting the Bible). And conversely, in both art and software design I can see the staggering order and patterns that unquestionably point to an intelligent Creator of this universe. Computer programming, like everything else in this world, is another thing that displays the glory of God.
Labels: metablog
posted by Chris Johnson at
12:23 PM
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