RailsConf 2014 - Cognitive Shortcuts: Models, Visualizations, Metaphors, and Other Lies
Channel: Confreaks
Date: 2014-05-16

By Sam Livingston-Gray

Experienced developers tend to build up a library of creative problem-solving tools: rubber ducks, code smells, anthropomorphizing code, &c.

These tools map abstract problems into forms our brains are good at solving. But our brains are also good at lying to us.

We'll talk about some of these tools, when to use them (or not), and how their biases can lead us astray.

"A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points." -Alan Kay

New developers very welcome: we don't teach this in school!

A developer from sunny* Portland, Oregon, Sam's been working in code since 1998, in Ruby since 2006, and at LivingSocial since 2012. He likes TDD/BDD/TATFT, pair programming, and refactoring—but finds that long walks on the beach tend to result in sandy keyboards.

    YMMV

Help us caption & translate this video!

http://amara.org/v/FG08/