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The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.

Alan Kay

Because the web has produced so much uninformed criticism. It’s kind of a Gresham’s Law-bad money drives the good money out of circulation.
ALAN KAY

Circulation Good Kind Money Out Produce Uniform
The flip side of the coin was that even good programmers and language designers tended to do terrible extensions when they were in the heat of programming, because design is something that is best done slowly and carefully.
ALAN KAY

Best Careful Coin Designer Even Extension Flip Good Heat Language Programme Side Tend Terrible
Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves.
ALAN KAY

Brick Brute Country Force Million Most Much Pyramid Slave Software Thousand Today Very
When the Mac first came out, Newsweek asked me what I [thought] of it. I said: Well, it’s the first personal computer worth criticizing.
ALAN KAY

Ask Came Computer Criticizing First Mac Newsweek Out Personal Thought
Change is easy, except for the changed part.
ALAN KAY

Change Easy Except Part
I think the trick with knowledge is to “acquire it, and forget all except the perfume” – because it is noisy and sometimes drowns out one’s own “brain voices”.
ALAN KAY

Acquire All Except Forget Knowledge Perfume Think Trick
They don’t like the idea of having different points of view, so it was a battle.
ALAN KAY

Battle Different Idea Point View
I don’t know how many of you have ever met Dijkstra, but you probably know that arrogance in computer science is measured in nano-Dijkstras.
ALAN KAY

Arrogance Computer Ever Know Many Measure Met Nanao People Science
A new friend is new wine, when it grows old, you will enjoy drinking it.
ALAN KAY

Drink Enjoy Friend Grow New Now Old Wine
It’s all about long-term, sustaining relationships.
ALAN KAY

Long Relationship Sustained Term
Perl is another example of filling a tiny, short-term need, and then being a real problem in the longer term.
ALAN KAY

Another Example Fill Perl Tiny
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
ALAN KAY

Best Future Invent Predict Way
Most creativity is a transition from one context into another where things are more surprising.
ALAN KAY

Another Context Creativity Most Mst Surprise Thing Transition
If you’re not failing 90% of the time, then you’re probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
ALAN KAY

Challenge Fall Probably Problem Sufficient Time Work
Bad criticism drives good criticism out of circulation. You just can’t criticize anything.
ALAN KAY

Anything Bad Criticism Good Out
Don’t worry about what anybody else is going to do. The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
ALAN KAY

Anybody Do Else Is Do What Worry

The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.

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The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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