Hackers and Painters
- Entry
- Note 065
- Date
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
- Tags
- Creative Process, Computation
I’ve just read Paul Graham’s Hackers and Painters essay. Although it’s over 20 years old, it still feels super relevant, especially in the era of agentic software development.
Graham describes programming as a way of thinking through a problem, discovering what you want to build as you build it. It reminded me of rewatching Eno, and the space Brian Eno makes for experimentation and unexpected results. Both seem to value staying open to where the work might lead.
If we are increasingly outsourcing the engineering to agents, the hacker’s role seems ever more important. Creativity, curiosity, taste and judgement shape what we choose to make and how we develop it. Rick Rubin talks about knowing what he likes and being able to express it to the artists he works with. That feels relevant here too. The technical ability to make something is only part of the process. So is recognising what is good and knowing where to take it next.