Hackers and Painters

Hackers and Painters: "What hackers and painters have in common is that they're both makers. Along with composers, architects, and writers, what hackers and painters are trying to do is make good things. They're not doing research per se, though if in the course of trying to make good things they discover some new technique, so much the better."

Paul Graham smashes through the artificially sharp edges of academic discipline and makes the observation that bits and bytes are just another medium more akin to tempera and clay and stone than numbers. This essay reminds me of how when you first use a Coleman lantern you have to burn the mantle to expose the bright burnable skeleton underneath. Burn, baby, burn!