Repetition and Myelination

"Programming is a skill. It can be developed." - Andrei Coronel

It was November of 2014 during my MIS 101 class when I first heard this statement from my professor. It stuck with me ever since and is one of the contents in my bucket of breakthrough knowledge.

I'm gonna write it down in some sort of code form in hopes of sparking some interest in programming or giving a glimpse of what I read and write on a daily basis. The number on the left just refers to the line.

1 programming = skill
2 skill.canBeDeveloped = true

Side note for the tech-fluent - yes I'm aware it can be class Programming < Skill but I thought we could start slow and simple for our monolingual human-language-speaking brothers and sisters.

Anyway, this was back when I didn't really know how to code yet given that I only got Programming 101 in 2015. I haven't been aware of the sheer beauty of writing elegant code, of how coding is an art, and of how it allows human beings to do a lot more with a lot less time. Given this, I wasn't really all psyched about the first line despite the fact that it is my current career. It was more of line 2 that made an impact on me.

It gave me hope that in a sense, anything is possible. Some may refer to it as a Growth Mindset that states that we're not set in stone and are capable of acquiring new skills and developing talents.

On the one hand, repetition sounds boring. Where's the adventure in that? Life ought to not be monotonous! On the other, I do think that there's a fine line between progressive repetition and insanity (which is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result).

There's a time to pivot and a time to persevere.

I admit, I still question my existence from time to time when my code ain't working although to be fair, I'd like to think that I've already become more resilient and responsive in the war against bugs given my repeated exposure to it.

It's actually not only in my profession that I've noticed the tree of repetition bear fruit. During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time playing Dota and listening to podcasts.

In playing Dota, from being a feeder 100% of the time, I now only feed 50% of the time. I just wanna weirdly flex this because I've never really been the best gamer around. Brought about by the days that I played like it was my day job, I actually earned a rank and got 20+ MVP awards.

In all seriousness, with my repeated exposure to playing the game, I've learned what to do and what not to do. I learned that you're gonna die if you're alone in a spot where enemies can come at you from the back, that there's a timing for every hero - some are very effective at the early part of the game whilst some are unstoppable at the latter, and that coordination with allies plays a bigger role in winning than picking strong heroes.

Listening to podcasts, I found myself being able to listen intently at a longer period of time. Two weeks after I started regularly enqueueing the activity in my daily to-do list, I noticed how, word per word, I was able to absorb more information from the two people conversing as I pretend to be in a coffee table with them.

Similar to how muscle fibers grow upon repair after taking damage from a work out, the myelin sheath, the coating of neurons responsible for allowing signals to transmit quickly and efficiently, thickens upon the repetition of a certain task. Notice how you don't really think about turning door knobs anymore?

Going about our daily lives and performing activities can be taxing. That is why when I take a break and want a good baked snack, I get myself some yummy Banana Cupcakes from the Corner House Baker to stimulate my parasympathetic nervous sytem (the part responsible for rest - contrary to the fight-or-flight sympathetic one), enabling me to be ready for the progressive repetition and myelination to come.

Let us now go forth and eat, sleep, and progressively repeat.