Visualization

I had casually discovered this during my late school days – that "visualization" is for real, and almost everybody around me can literally visualize! Yesterday I came across a scientific name for this inability to visualize – it's called "Aphantasia" (absence of fantasy), and supposedly only about 2% of the population can't visualize! And if that 2% forms a spectrum, I am at the extreme 0-end – I see not even the vaguest hint of anything beyond what exists before me for real; eyes open or, shut! In sleep, however, I do certainly dream in clear colored visuals (I rarely dream). 😊

Since "a picture speaks a thousand words" – it certainly must be a very useful and interesting faculty to have in your toolbox – serving as a constant aid in learning, in thinking/conceiving, in storing and in recalling concepts. And especially as an architect, you can so literally "see the whole big picture" emerge right before your eyes! My memory would probably be something as drab as an object store – where you serialize, commit, and retrieve back entire objects wrapping data and data only!

To my advantage, though, I am far less distracted. Anyone who can magically conjure up all sorts of images at will, would necessarily need a lot of mental discipline to achieve the same tranquil depth or, the same intensity of inner focus that would come to me so naturally. Not sure if related, but I am highly effective at switching off almost all visual noise from my immediate surroundings at will (in contrast, I am pretty bad at filtering out/ignoring auditory noise). And I have other optimized "memory techniques" that may not be too commonplace either – e.g., I have some definite "edge-caching" mechanisms at play 😉 – where my fingertips mechanically "remember"/"cache" passwords whenever I type on my laptop (without making round-trips to my memory)!

Wanted to know if there are others like me who can’t conjure up images before their eyes? #diversity

[Simultaneously posted by me on LinkedIn]

The Joy of Building

Here's a nice and candid interview clip of Steve Jobs talking about the "doers" being the major "thinkers", and here's Linus Torvalds being much more blunt about "the hype" versus "the real work". These are things I have known only too well intuitively - that thinking and doing, like inseparable twins, nourish each other - but it's always heartening to see it coming from stalwarts of such stature!

My observation is that the doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change the industry are both the thinker-doer in the same person. .. There's just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product. And as you evolve that great idea, it changes and grows. It never comes out like it starts, because you learn a lot more as you get into the subtleties of it. .. And it's that process that is the magic!

— Steve Jobs

Fourteen years into this industry now, I still remain a firm believer in practicing my craft first-hand. Through all these years, I have had wonderful opportunities to think, do, learn, unlearn, diversify, grow and mature. I have been fortunate to work with a few really smart people who besides being great thinkers are great "doers" too. And all my choosiness about work/projects notwithstanding, I have enjoyed a tremendous amount of goodwill at work - right from my customers to my seniors, peers, and juniors alike. And I have known the joy and fulfillment of building and shipping consistently - an exercise that is so nurturing to your curiosity, creativity, and overall growth.

And through all this - absurd as it may sound to many - I have come to believe that a developer, designer, and architect can co-exist in one person; s/he stepping back or forward from time to time, to take up something challenging of each role. After all, which seasoned developer is not a designer too, and which seasoned designer is not an architect too?