Photo by Krissana Porto on Unsplash
I woke up one day and realized that I wanted to write more. I wasn’t satisfied with the writing schedule I had set up for myself. And despite my inconsistency, I still felt restless.
As such, I’ve decided to start a new weekly series.
This series will discuss things I’d observed and simply want to comment on.
So, what exactly is on my mind, that I may disturb— or surprise — you with this post?
The Issue.
I’d been thinking about the concept of “gatekeeping”
I stumbled upon this article not too long ago and found myself agreeing on a lot of the points it raised. As someone who does code, I think we’ll enter an era in which a lot of “programming” is dramatically simplified. I believe the complexity that comes with the implementation of logic and the appropriate use of syntax is something the average person will not have to deal with in the near future.
Of course, programming isn’t “merely” about syntax implementation and the appropriate use of logic…but it is a significant chunk of it.
I believe the future of code will be ‘No-code’.
We’re seeing the rise of frameworks that allow the average user to develop extremely powerful tools. Rarely do the users who use a given framework think about the underlying technologies that turn their ideas into reality as quickly as they do.
This has dramatically broken down barriers into the entry of fields like Web Development. But it has also spawned debates that tend to end in people accusing others of gatekeeping.
A while ago, there’d been a feud between the renowned Software Architect Grady Booch and a lot of tech twitter.
His remark came off a bit “gatekeepy” in my opinion, but he later clarified that his point had to do with Google offering cheap“ pay-to-play” certificates that would allow it to access cheap labor.
This happened around the time Google was introducing a certification program it believes to provide more accessible education to people in a country where most people can’t afford tertiary education. All at an affordable price of $300.
The blowback was swift. A lot of people, especially women, are familiar with the constant repudiation of their skills and the rejection of their participation in tech.
Despite agreeing with a lot of the blowback, I found myself somewhat sympathetic to Grady. Yes, he was gatekeeping despite his change of tune.
That’s not something I support.
But I feel a sort of sympathy for people who experience their fields differently, as well as those who realize a self-profiting scheme when they see one.
The Gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper in ancient tradition was someone— whether it be clergypeople, courts people, etc— who decided on the worthiness of an individual to enter a field.
In Communications, “gatekeeping” refers to the media filtering what information people can access. The term would come to refer to any situation in which someone who claims themselves authoritative, decides what information the general public may see.
The older generation of software engineers— the gatekeepers in context— were brought up in a different culture.
Software engineering— now seen as a profitable career— was just a way through which a lot of neurodiverse young men (mostly white) would find solace.
A lot of you are probably aware of the MIT model railroad club. A place where people would show their love for machination, software, and mathematics by depicting their skills at understanding truly sophisticated systems; a place, credited as being the birthplace of hacker culture.
In “Hackers: The Art of Exploitation” Jon Erickson explained hacking and early computer engineering this way:
Since the infancy of computers, hackers have been creatively solving
problems. In the late 1950s, the MIT model railroad club was given a dona-
tion of parts, mostly old telephone equipment. The club’s members used this
equipment to rig up a complex system that allowed multiple operators to con-
trol different parts of the track by dialing in to the appropriate sections. They
called this new and inventive use of telephone equipment hacking ; many
people consider this group to be the original hackers. The group moved on
to programming on punch cards and ticker tape for early computers like the
IBM 704 and the TX-0. While others were content with writing programs that
just solved problems, the early hackers were obsessed with writing programs
that solved problems well. A new program that could achieve the same result
as an existing one but used fewer punch cards was considered better, even
though it did the same thing. The key difference was how the program
achieved its results—elegance.
He goes on to say:
This drive to continually learn and explore transcended
even the conventional boundaries drawn by discrimination, evident in the
MIT model railroad club’s acceptance of 12-year-old Peter Deutsch when
he demonstrated his knowledge of the TX-0 and his desire to learn. Age,
race, gender, appearance, academic degrees, and social status were not
primary criteria for judging another’s worth—not because of a desire for
equality, but because of a desire to advance the emerging art of hacking
Software engineering as evidenced by “tomes” like The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth, was… to put it lightly… a different sort of beast. Hacker culture permeated a lot of Software Engineering and as exemplified by the previous quotes was inherently elitist.
This sort of culture although counter-productive today is still very present.
The gatekeeping exhibited by Grady I believe has far less to do with him hoping to keep people out of the field, and far more to do with his own training and what he expects certain programmers to be capable of doing.
I don’t think I can speak on his behalf— even though I am. I’m just a young black man in my really early 20s who likes technology, anime, and occasionally shitposts on Reddit and Twitter.
But this was my perspective and why I understood where his initial comments came from.
A lot of the clashes that will take place in the next few months, will be as a result of the misunderstandings between the older generation and mine. It will also be as a result of the failings of that older generation to understand the new reality in which they live.
It will be a battle between tradition and modernity; a battle that’s already taking place. One that increasingly has to do with each generation’s ability to learn vital truths about the nature of their society.
This post is an acknowledgment of the fact that things have changed. But it’s also my attempt to show an understanding of a world that no longer is. As we approach intergenerational conflict, I see myself as getting ready for whatever may come next. To be ready for such a battle, an understanding of the past is definitely a necessity.