What Thinking Patterns Should a Programmer Have?

This article explores the essential thinking patterns and spirit that programmers should cultivate, inspired by the book "Hackers and Painters" and insights from tech leaders like Qi Lu and Jordan Peterson.

1. Taking Action (动手去做)

In today's big data consumption era, many people seem to have lost the ability to think and learn, being fed personalized content within their comfort zones. Some people read books and learn knowledge but only停留在理论层面, keeping knowledge in memory that gradually fades. Those who truly stand out are those who write down their thoughts after reading, contemplate whether knowledge applies in different scenarios, and integrate it into their thinking system.

Taking action requires courage, significant time, and the ability to focus and be patient. In this fast-consumption era, 30 minutes of枯燥思考 cannot compete with 30 entertaining short videos.

2. Creativity (创造性)

Creativity means not being bound and daring to explore. Creating from 0 to 1 is innovation, but so is improving from 1 to 1.1. Being good at utilizing the wisdom of predecessors is the true path. Creativity is inseparable from design and taste. Design serves as a bridge between requirements and technology, holding very important status.

3. Problem Solving (解决问题)

Problem-solving is not only about technology but also about solving human problems and meeting human needs. The First Principles approach, first proposed by Aristotle, emphasizes returning to the most basic conditions of things, continuously deconstructing complex problems to find the optimal path to achieve goals.

Different eras have significantly different creation tools. In ancient times, creation tools were mainly agricultural/handicraft tools. With the Industrial Revolution, generators and steam engines emerged. In the current era, computers, development tools, and programming languages have become important innovation drivers.

As Jordan Peterson emphasized: think, take action, and use the right techniques to discover and solve problems. In this era of great transformation, we all need to be brave in action, good at thinking, good at discovering suitable tools and methods, and exploring the boundaries of innovation.