I think, pointing out that my claim that the normal rules governing complex systems also govern programming is wrong because programming isn't governed by the same system is pretty circular.

Actually a lot of really sharp, leading chess openings you do bring out the queen right away. That is a good example of the rule being less important than the exception. For example, in the Winower variation of the French Defense, a popular line is to play Qg4 even before a single kingside piece is developed.

And no, "unlearning bad habits" is really _not_ a normal part of chess instruction. It is done almost exclusively by addition, subtraction isn't employed. If you learn something new, you don't have to unlearn whatever it superceded. Unlearning bad hibits is nothing at all like learning something new, it's a totatly different process. I'm no chess master, but I've been playing tournies for many years and own dozens of chess books.

I had to unlearn a bad habit to stop smoking. I didn't have to unlearn anything to stop writing the spaghetti code I wrote as a teen, I just needed to learn some programming principles and practice applying them. I think this is because of the way the brain works, physically. You don't have a big hash with an index that needs to be replaced. It's more like, you've got a big box, and the new stuff you learn is the stuff closest to you in the box.

In any case, in instruction it is just as important not to teach wrong things, as it is to teach right things. That's why, if you say there are many ways to do it, then it is easy to be right. But when you switch to saying certain techniques shouldn't be used at all, then it's suddenly just as easy to be wrong. It is the same in science... it is easy to prove something _can_ be done with certainty, particularly if it has actually been done. It is very much harder to prove something is impossible.

In reply to Re: (Ovid) Re(5): A question of efficiency by Aighearach
in thread A question of efficiency by c

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