As one who has done a little computer programming, when much younger I believed that a computer programming language might be the best way to communicate between humans - simple no obfuscations, etc - Rubbish!

At one stage several of us in the Uni Computer Club started a competition to see how many languages we could acquire - we all gave up when I showed that I had a reading ability level in over 30 and that was almost one for every letter of the alphabet. I now see computing languages as in families of different types of languages, each family better better suited to certain families of problems, and each language in each family being more suited to different subclasses of such problems... Further more, the design of each language constrains the easiness of how one tackles various types of problems, the solutions being constrained to an extent by the individual language.

I've still got somewhere the printout for Colossal Cave in Fortran...

Went on to do some theatre study after that.... :-)

The same applies with maths. Like CarolC I was put down for most of my life as stupid because of my Micro Motor Disorder - poor handwriting etc - at 40 I was tested as being intellectually in the extreme top group, even taking into account the test showing up severe deficiencies in certain types of thinking capabilities. I always had hassles with Calculus (not theoretically, but in remembering theorems and generating proofs) but had no hassles with 'Spherical Geometry', and indeed I used to play with friends various versions of multidimensional checkers, etc. Indeed, as the tester said in her report, my problems arose more from others being not smart enough to keep up with me than what had been previously assumed.

My high school teacher had showed us quantum theory and the related structures of atoms (in a very simplified form according to the curriculum) and asked me if I understood Quantum Theory. I of course said "Yes" - at which point he put me down in a very nasty way. When I reached Uni - the stuff was of course much harder... and not made easier that even the scientists could not agree on all the details of some of the stuff...

I was eventually forced out of study due to not being able to handle the Calculus through the way they wanted to test me - relying on me needing to use memory to recall hundreds of tiny conversion tricks - my memory works on a relational recall basis rather than being able to recall a list of facts. If I had the reference list alongside me, I could handle it well enough, but that was considered to be 'cheating', so it was not allowed.

My problem has always been hassles with the 'lower level' stuff, but an apparent ease to handle higher level stuff, which has never upset the top people I have had contact with as they seem to understand, but has always cause hassles with the far more prevalent 'second raters'...

We are all potentially different. No one 'Way' is right for all humans - I now also believe that too as far as Religion goes. But those who take refuge in their narrow mindedness will always be wanting to start wars to 'convert or kill' those not afflicted with their narrow mindedness and lack of wider experience.


Robin