Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-06-14 09:54:27
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Andy Hunt
- ISBN：1934356050
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Software development happens in your head。 Not in an editor， IDE， or design tool。 You're well educated on how to work with software and hardware， but what about wetware--our own brains？ Learning new skills and new technology is critical to your career， and it's all in your head。
In this book by Andy Hunt， you'll learn how our brains are wired， and how to take advantage of your brain's architecture。 You'll learn new tricks and tips to learn more， faster， and retain more of what you learn。
You need a pragmatic approach to thinking and learning。 You need to Refactor Your Wetware。
Programmers have to learn constantly; not just the stereotypical new technologies， but also the problem domain of the application， the whims of the user community， the quirks of your teammates， the shifting sands of the industry， and the evolving characteristics of the project itself as it is built。
We'll journey together through bits of cognitive and neuroscience， learning and behavioral theory。 You'll see some surprising aspects of how our brains work， and how you can take advantage of the system to improve your own learning and thinking skills。
In this book you'll learn how to:
Use the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition to become more expert
Leverage the architecture of the brain to strengthen different thinking modes
Avoid common "known bugs" in your mind
Learn more deliberately and more effectively
Manage knowledge more efficiently
Printed in full color。
In this book by Andy Hunt， you'll learn how our brains are wired， and how to take advantage of your brain's architecture。 You'll learn new tricks and tips to learn more， faster， and retain more of what you learn。
You need a pragmatic approach to thinking and learning。 You need to Refactor Your Wetware。
Programmers have to learn constantly; not just the stereotypical new technologies， but also the problem domain of the application， the whims of the user community， the quirks of your teammates， the shifting sands of the industry， and the evolving characteristics of the project itself as it is built。
We'll journey together through bits of cognitive and neuroscience， learning and behavioral theory。 You'll see some surprising aspects of how our brains work， and how you can take advantage of the system to improve your own learning and thinking skills。
In this book you'll learn how to:
Use the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition to become more expert
Leverage the architecture of the brain to strengthen different thinking modes
Avoid common "known bugs" in your mind
Learn more deliberately and more effectively
Manage knowledge more efficiently
Printed in full color。
Reviews
Ken
，
Good advice and perspectives on learning。
Juan Ponce
，
Amazing book
Bartosz
，
Similarly as with The Pragmatic Programmer （book by the same author）， I wish I had read it sooner。 I’ve learned about most of the topics covered in this book from other titles （mostly “Thinking， Fast and Slow”）。The book is straight to the point and packed with actionable advice， tips and exercises。 I’ve already incorporated some of it into my daily routine。Most interesting topics: * The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition* Managing focus and the cost of switching contextOverall， an interesting re Similarly as with The Pragmatic Programmer （book by the same author）， I wish I had read it sooner。 I’ve learned about most of the topics covered in this book from other titles （mostly “Thinking， Fast and Slow”）。The book is straight to the point and packed with actionable advice， tips and exercises。 I’ve already incorporated some of it into my daily routine。Most interesting topics: * The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition* Managing focus and the cost of switching contextOverall， an interesting read！ 。。。more
Renee Liu
，
The pages offer abundant pragmatic and scientific explanations of how and why those mental techniques work。 The techniques are well-tested and have been brought up by many other books but this book presents them in a very unique way。 I absolutely enjoyed it。 Spoiler alert -- there is a chapter explaining why distraction is bad -- the reason was the cost of refocusing back because brain needs context to focus and it needs to regather those contexts after a distraction incident occurs。 Bearing tha The pages offer abundant pragmatic and scientific explanations of how and why those mental techniques work。 The techniques are well-tested and have been brought up by many other books but this book presents them in a very unique way。 I absolutely enjoyed it。 Spoiler alert -- there is a chapter explaining why distraction is bad -- the reason was the cost of refocusing back because brain needs context to focus and it needs to regather those contexts after a distraction incident occurs。 Bearing that in mind， one would be very cautious about the next tempting distraction。 。。。more
Rajasegar
，
Every software developer or programmer should read this。 It offers so many perspectives too costly to ignore。
Idir Yacine
，
Overall I felt being tormented throughout the book ！The author used way too many geek/bizarre wording trying to look smart when he is not ！ his overall style was just disturbing which prevented me from achieving any state of real concentration。
Víctor Martínez
，
Funciona muy bien como un índice biográfico sobre estudios más profundos acerca de la mente y el aprendizaje， pero por si solo， este libro no es suficiente para abordar todo lo que promete。Los últimos capitulos envejecieron mal por las herramientas que recomienda para gestionar ideas y demás， sin embargo esos mismos conceptos pueden aplicarse a aplicaciones nuevas。 Hoy se sienten como páginas desperdiciadas。
Kevin Narvaes
，
Super excelente insights en básicamente como recalibrar nuestros cerebros。 Me gustó mucho que aunque es un libro dirigido a un público mayoritariamente envuelto en el mundo de la informática， es increíblemente accesible para todo público。 Los tips de auto ayuda y auto crecimiento son descritos y aplicados de una manera bastante única， la cual le hará incluso más sentido a aquellos envueltos en la informática debido a las comparaciones y ejemplos que usa。Ya encuentro vario tips， como el hecho de Super excelente insights en básicamente como recalibrar nuestros cerebros。 Me gustó mucho que aunque es un libro dirigido a un público mayoritariamente envuelto en el mundo de la informática， es increíblemente accesible para todo público。 Los tips de auto ayuda y auto crecimiento son descritos y aplicados de una manera bastante única， la cual le hará incluso más sentido a aquellos envueltos en la informática debido a las comparaciones y ejemplos que usa。Ya encuentro vario tips， como el hecho de manejar mi concentración， detectar mi nivel de expertiz en mis habilidades， crear mapas mentales para usar más sentidos en mi aprendizaje， el permitirme equivocarme de forma más deliberada， entre otros tips， bastante útiles。 Es como si comprendo el funcionamiento de mi cerebro aun mejor， y lo pudiese reprogramar con un script de mejora。 。。。more
Aaron Schumacher
，
This 2008 book contained things both familiar and novel to me， with a focus on creativity。 One thing it describes is the fieldstone method， which I think is close to my recent style of collecting ideas。 I'm trying the morning pages technique the book also describes， and I think the inner game idea of teaching awareness could be good。 The book is an artifact of Hunt's experience， drawing together and organizing ideas he'd encountered。 Good stuff！ This 2008 book contained things both familiar and novel to me， with a focus on creativity。 One thing it describes is the fieldstone method， which I think is close to my recent style of collecting ideas。 I'm trying the morning pages technique the book also describes， and I think the inner game idea of teaching awareness could be good。 The book is an artifact of Hunt's experience， drawing together and organizing ideas he'd encountered。 Good stuff！ 。。。more
Joshua R。 Taylor
，
The first time I read the title of this book， I was slightly disgusted。 Refactor my Wetware？ Looks like I've found a book suited to that kind of blinder-wearing developer who can only digest a topic if it relates to technology。 Thankfully it only took a turn to the table of contents to silence my prejudice。 Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt is a book of tips targeted at developers who wish to boost their capabilities。 However I believe that much of what is written is very transferrabl The first time I read the title of this book， I was slightly disgusted。 Refactor my Wetware？ Looks like I've found a book suited to that kind of blinder-wearing developer who can only digest a topic if it relates to technology。 Thankfully it only took a turn to the table of contents to silence my prejudice。 Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt is a book of tips targeted at developers who wish to boost their capabilities。 However I believe that much of what is written is very transferrable to any kind of creative/knowledge-based skill， expanding the book's audience to anybody in knowledge work today。 As long as they are willing to take on board the many computer-related metaphors。At the core of the book is the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition。 This may already be familiar to some of you as scale of 'expertise' in a specific skill （like classical guitar playing， weaving， cloud service management） with the possible values: Novice， Advanced Beginner， Competent， Proficient and Expert。 It is a mental model to help us think about how our skills develop and how to assess our own ability。 The model claims that a novice can exercise a skill if they are given set rules and lots of unknowns cleared up ahead of time。 They may consider lots of irrelevant information and get stuck if they are presented with any situation out of the ruleset。 An expert on the other hand is not only able to exercise a skill without rules but often slowed by them。 They can see the entire space of the problem， intuitively， and find the most relevant information to consider。 The rest of the books' topics follow from this scale， providing some suggestions on how we can most effectively slide up from 'novice' into 'expert'。Despite having encountered the model before， Andy Hunt does a great job of expressing it in a fun and relatable way。 I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to grow their skills just for the initial chapters on the Dreyfus model。Beyond the model， the key takeaways I had from this book were:1。 A large part of the brain doesn't understand language， so try to stimulate it with visual， audio and kinaesthetic stimulus。 Make big and colourful mind maps！ Role-play to help solve problems！2。 Learning is far more successful if you consciously plan to learn。 So make a plan to learn！ Set SMART goals！3。 Nobody feels like learning when they are bored。 Personal learning has to be fun to make it sustainable and to fit it into our busy lives。 Find a learning activity that you find fun！ Stick to it and expand it！4。 Stress kills our curiosity and ability to experiment。 We must be able to practice our skills where it feels safe to fail and we must practice with an intention to fail。 So chill out！ Move slow and yet still break things！。。。and last but perhaps the point that has stuck with me。。。5。 Just cramming information does not build skills （as much as educational institutions would like you to believe）。 Learning requires analysis & synthesis i。e。 the digestion of things and manipulation of things， or i。e。 reading and writing， theory and practice。 Usually most learning tends too heavily towards analysis since it is easily to package and distribute as an educational product。 We actually need far more synthesis， even in very theory-heavy skills。 So learn by doing！ Only read books about things you'll practice tomorrow！ 。。。more
Grace
，
The main tidbits of the book:1。 To increase our proficiency at certain skill， go through a cycle of first making a goal and having a specific measurement system so that you can understand your progress in that goal and how you can adjust。2。 There are two systems composing the way we think: system l （pragmatic calculation and action focusing on a narrow width of our knowledge） and system R （somewhat of an entire use of the brain）; society should now emphasis system R more as it is under-utilized。 The main tidbits of the book:1。 To increase our proficiency at certain skill， go through a cycle of first making a goal and having a specific measurement system so that you can understand your progress in that goal and how you can adjust。2。 There are two systems composing the way we think: system l （pragmatic calculation and action focusing on a narrow width of our knowledge） and system R （somewhat of an entire use of the brain）; society should now emphasis system R more as it is under-utilized。3。 When solving a problem， force yourself to look outside of the box by adjusting how you see it。Thoughts:Overall， pretty good。 I liked and agreed with more of the author's idea and I enjoyed the author's discussion about developing skills and what attributes an expert。 Below are my only problems。However， it was somehow very obvious that the author was not a neuroscientist or psychologist。 He explains that clearly himself but I generally just prefer these kind of books explain the studies presented in a more data-driven way。 I guess this is just personal preference though。 The fact that he was a computer person did allow him to make some pretty compelling analogies about the human brain though。 Also， I am somewhat skeptical of some of the psychology of learning concepts in this book because he mentions things like "visual learner" and "auditory learner" as if they are real psychology concepts and for that section， I recall not seeing proper citations， so I suspect it's more of an experience thing。 I suppose self-help books relating to the experiences of the author is okay， but I'm still skeptical of some things。（https://qbi。uq。edu。au/brain/learning-。。。）[https://www。psychologytoday。com/us/bl。。。]How I am going to change:- When solving a problem， I may force myself to tackle it in strange ways or do strange things。- I will take meditation and yoga more seriously。- Probably make sure I always have some place to take notes nearby。- I will probably work on my second brain more。 。。。more
Dennis Nehrenheim
，
Context & Why I read this bookI work as a software developer aiming for mastery in this domain。 Furthermore， I am currently conducting a "year of ratio & will" where I try to learn all about rationality and willpower。 What is the book about as a whole？This is a book about learning and thinking pramatically， mostly but not exclusive to the context of software development， whereby pramatism is defined as "to do what works （for oneself）"。 The book touches on the areas of learning， expertise， creati Context & Why I read this bookI work as a software developer aiming for mastery in this domain。 Furthermore， I am currently conducting a "year of ratio & will" where I try to learn all about rationality and willpower。 What is the book about as a whole？This is a book about learning and thinking pramatically， mostly but not exclusive to the context of software development， whereby pramatism is defined as "to do what works （for oneself）"。 The book touches on the areas of learning， expertise， creativity， personal knowledge management， productivity， and more。。。The book's structureThe book is divided into 9 more or less linear chapters: 1。 Introduction2。 Journey from Novice to Expert3。 This is Your Brain4。 Get in Your Right Mind5。 Debug Your Mind6。 Learn Deliberately7。 Gain Experience8。 Manage Focus9。 Beyond ExpertiseHowever， the author is a proponent of non-linear thinking in the form of mind-maps and also provides a mind-maps of the book's content as an addition to the table of contents。 He also provides some "Next Action" tasks at the end of important sections and chapters of the book。 The author further summarises his ideas in a collection of 20 tips throughout the book: 1。 Always consider the context。2。 Use rules for novices， intuition for experts。3。 Know what you don't know。 4。 Learn by watching and imitating。5。 Keep practicing in order to remain expert。 6。 Avoid formal methods if you need creative， intuition， or inventiveness。7。 Learn the skill of learning。 8。 Capture all ideas to get more of them。 9。 Learn by synthesis。10。 Strive for good design; it really works better。 11。 Rewire your brain with belief and constant practices。 12。 Add sensory experience to engage more of you brain。 13。 Lead with R-mode， follow with L-mode。 14。 Use metaphor as the meeting place between L-mode and R-mode。15。 Cultivate humour to build stronger metaphors。16。 Step away from the keyboard to solve hard problems。 17。 Change your viewpoint to solve the problem。 18。 Watch the outlines: "rarely" doesn't mean "never"。 19。 Be comfortable with uncertainty。20。 Trust ink over memory; every mental read is a write。One lessonI really appreciated the author's presentation of the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition。 It is a per-skill model with five stages: Novice （1）， Advanced Beginners （2）， Competent （3）， Proficient （4）， Expert （5）。 So going forward I will try to use this model for evaluating my skill levels in various areas。 Reading Recommendation / Who should read this？I was slightly disappointed in this book since the author is renowned in the industry and I hoped this book would go more in-depth into how to actually get better at thinking and learning in the context of software development。 But unfortunately， scientific studies， best practices of the community， and personal anecdotes and experiences of the author are intermixed and presented in a rather broad and shallow manner。 In all of these topics， the author himself is no expert and therefore he cannot provide convincing and cutting edge content。 Moreover， the author heavily relies on metaphors， often taking them too far to be taken seriously。 On the other side， the book has a decent bibliography， an index and a summary of the "20 tips"， all of which I appreciate。 So in sum， I give this a 6 out of 10 on my personal rating scale which means OK; the average read。 Tangible weaknesses， but recommended with some reservations。 。。。more
Milad Mosavei
，
This book changed my thought and way。 it is a very helpful book。 thank you， Andy Hunt。 you're amazing。 This book changed my thought and way。 it is a very helpful book。 thank you， Andy Hunt。 you're amazing。 。。。more
Vera
，
Full of theory and practical tips to improve your learning experience。
Norent Khy
，
Reading this book gave me plenty of leads to follow up on， some which I had already come across yet had not allocated any attention。
Danylo Bilokha
，
Andy Hunt has definitely sharp mind。 He took ideas that were already said by giants like Daniel Kahneman in "Think Fast and Slow"; tLehrer， Jonah "How we decide" and so on chewed them and suggested his thinking。 The author has correct and reasonable observations about the different level of expertise; context; how-brain the works; how to keep it "productive"; L & R modes; I could recommend reading it but maybe not as the first dive into the somewhat real separation of the brain for that Sir Dani Andy Hunt has definitely sharp mind。 He took ideas that were already said by giants like Daniel Kahneman in "Think Fast and Slow"; tLehrer， Jonah "How we decide" and so on chewed them and suggested his thinking。 The author has correct and reasonable observations about the different level of expertise; context; how-brain the works; how to keep it "productive"; L & R modes; I could recommend reading it but maybe not as the first dive into the somewhat real separation of the brain for that Sir Daniel Kahneman would do better， deeper dive into the subject。 。。。more
Ciarán Murray
，
Good book。 Focuses a lot on programmer but has some great takeaways that are for everyone
Thuy
，
This book would probably be more useful to a college student or recent grad。
Hildeberto
，
This book is in the self-improvement category for programmers。 It isn't that silly like motivational coaches， but scientific， didactic， and practical。 There is no bullshit， but I have to say that It took me ages to finish it because it is boring。 That's the only reason it isn't 5 stars。 This book is in the self-improvement category for programmers。 It isn't that silly like motivational coaches， but scientific， didactic， and practical。 There is no bullshit， but I have to say that It took me ages to finish it because it is boring。 That's the only reason it isn't 5 stars。 。。。more
Raymond Lewis
，
Great exploration of metacognition。 Plenty of new tools and told。
Biel Lava
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This book focused on the overlapping principles of programming and productivity。 If the reader does not have any background or prior knowledge about the nature of programming， they might encounter some jargons that require a quick search on the internet。
Manish Kumar
，
Andy is a fun writer。 The anecdotes， metaphors and analogies are amazing and though provoking。 I feel this book should be read along side "Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions"， reason being this book delves more into Human and psychology topics where the crux of improvement lies。 This book is culmination of most of the researched ideas in learning and improvement domain from an engineer's perspective。 Chapters are also clear and split methodically complete with tools a Andy is a fun writer。 The anecdotes， metaphors and analogies are amazing and though provoking。 I feel this book should be read along side "Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions"， reason being this book delves more into Human and psychology topics where the crux of improvement lies。 This book is culmination of most of the researched ideas in learning and improvement domain from an engineer's perspective。 Chapters are also clear and split methodically complete with tools and next steps for improvement and feedback。 Idea is to keep visiting it for the refactoring which is life long process。 。。。more
Yaamika Dedhia
，
Really enjoyed reading the book。 While some of the ideas discussed in the book were known to me， the reasoning provided was very interesting to read。 Internalizing some of these ideas could potentially lead to very good results。
Inaciane Monteiro
，
besta
Jevgenij
，
Collection of productivity tips and theories under the sauce of "computer brain"。 Too wordy for my liking， too much theory and too few practical examples， and nothing new for me in general。 There is a whole chapter on having 2 monitors and using virtual desktops e。g。 Also if I see classification of people into some "types"， it's a sign that the author does not understand people very well。 Collection of productivity tips and theories under the sauce of "computer brain"。 Too wordy for my liking， too much theory and too few practical examples， and nothing new for me in general。 There is a whole chapter on having 2 monitors and using virtual desktops e。g。 Also if I see classification of people into some "types"， it's a sign that the author does not understand people very well。 。。。more
Lê Duy Anh
，
Good to read to better use your mind and your brain， especially if you are a software engineer。
Silverspoon
，
A really thorough and well researched book。 easy to understand。 Fascinated too see how the author has given honourable mentions to the books and authors from where he extracted this data whenever required。 Gave me an opportunity to get thorough knowledge in the sections I wished because of this。
Carlos Ramos
，
This is not a book about how to program better or programming at all。 It's more about neuroplasticity。 It gives you tools and exercises to change the way you think。 This is not a book about how to program better or programming at all。 It's more about neuroplasticity。 It gives you tools and exercises to change the way you think。 。。。more
Priscila Valenzuela
，
Los temas relacionados al aprendizaje me gustan mucho， este libro no fue la excepción。 Me maravilla la facilidad que tienen los expertos para compartir la complejidad de su razonamiento de la manera más sencilla y digerible para los principiantes。 El trabajo de Andy Hunt me pareció particularmente agradable， porque no solo usa un lenguaje amigable para fomentar el aprendizaje， ¡Incluye lista de tareas tras cada enseñanza！ El acercamiento que Andy toma en el transcurso del libro para que el lecto Los temas relacionados al aprendizaje me gustan mucho， este libro no fue la excepción。 Me maravilla la facilidad que tienen los expertos para compartir la complejidad de su razonamiento de la manera más sencilla y digerible para los principiantes。 El trabajo de Andy Hunt me pareció particularmente agradable， porque no solo usa un lenguaje amigable para fomentar el aprendizaje， ¡Incluye lista de tareas tras cada enseñanza！ El acercamiento que Andy toma en el transcurso del libro para que el lector disfrute de su intención de aprender una habilidad nueva es pragmática， pero da espacio a que el usuario explote su enfoque especulativo y experimental con tal de que construya el camino que mejor le funcione para alcanzar sus objetivos de estudio。 Las técnicas que comparte para fomentar el potencial cognitivo las percibí en orden ascendente en caso de que quisiera aprender una habilidad desde cero， pero también me encontré con consejos que me permitieron evaluar la naturaleza de mi experiencia actual a mayor detalle。 Si haces este ejercicio de lectura， puede que te topes con algún sesgo de optimismo con respecto a tus propias capacidades o quizá ya sea momento de tener una mentalidad más curiosa para robustecer tu portafolio profesional， como en mi caso。 。。。more
Ivan Ruski
，