Why? I

I think I wanted to code because when I got to the technology companies I was researching, I found places full of creative ideas which were innovative and being someone with too many ideas...this appealed to me.

That was one of the main motivations. 

Why?

I suppose one of the questions I had was are you doing this to prove a point? That a woman can code? Or am I doing this because I might genuinely enjoy coding.

You would necessarily be able to tell from my outside that there would be apart of me attracted to logic.

Both above motivations are probably valid. Why not learnt to code to prove that women are just as capable?

But similarly, it you want a career in code, perhaps actually enjoying it would be a good place to start also.

Could I see myself doing this day in day out? A good question, but for now I am just going to enjoy the journey and see where I end up.

In time I can sit back and look at the grand scheme of my life and decide if this is what I really want or what I need. I don't know if there is such a thing as a true calling, but you never know.

I think there is a lot of discussion about very young children learning to code, and they will be very superior by the time they get to adulthood. But I think starting later in life shouldn't hold anyone back. I met children whilst teaching who are going to go far beyond me in terms of everything, but you might as well be the best version of yourself. And that is all you can expect in life. 

Revisiting the anthropological past

My sudden urge to do some Java Script, has made me desire to look back on the work I did for my dissertation in anthropology, technology and gender. It is good to revisit with fresh eyes. 

Though it is difficult when you have a million and one different books to read. 

Well it is good to review, despite the millions of ideas which assault my brain and make a normal non creative human life impossible. 

I would like to continue my understanding of gender. I wondered if I really should have taken a different direction in my research and studied women who were considering egg freezing, but that is a 'what if question?'. 

What can anthropology bring to technology? 

 I was thinking of combining education with technology and seeing where that went to, as my background is in ESL, and special needs teaching. 

Taking a direction towards educational anthropology would probably be sensible, but.. 

A lot to think about. 

Sudden Java Script Urge

It has been a while since I updated any of technology/anthropology related blogs. I have been out teaching, and now I am back. At least it would seem that way. This morning I woke up, and the first thought I had was to carry on learning Java script on Code Academy. I have spent an hour a day since Friday or Saturday (but not Sunday), and it would be interesting to see if I can keep it up.

Not many people can say they have felt this way...or am I being too narrow minded.

So I worked my way through the end of the introduction of the course and started on coding some variables.

Variables. This is where my GCSE algebra started to come back to me.

Here is an example:

var my Name = 'Arya';
console.log(myName);
//Output;Arya

There are many more variations on the theme. Variables hold data, and allow code to be reused without having to rewrite the whole program.

Sounds pretty logical and handy.

On Java

I am finally working on some code. It has taken ages to get to this point and I still don't think I am getting into it. Not fully. I met another 'code buddy' who told me it takes the hours and hours or practise before your brain clicks and starts to want to do coding. I admitted that I had been avoiding the experience for sometime.

A console log, writes things in a black box...html. No I don't entirely understand.

I have gotten to conditionals on Codeacademy. Apparently it gets better. It gets less hair splitting and slow when you try to fix problems with code etc.

I think it is time to go home. Have a rest.

A bit of logic was a nice break for my brain, but I need food. 

Day 1- Java Script Basics

I finally got around to it. Java Script. I am a complete newbie. I have no idea what I am doing. I am on Code academy and I can not even see what the code looks like because it does not come up on my android tablet. I seem to have gotten somewhere, it is is slightly more easy going than my initial attempts at C++. I will report more of the coding details in future posts.

Why am I doing this?

Not just because I am a woman, who has spent most of her life doing art and people centred things?

During my masters, my supervisor convinced me to take up a dissertation on the ICT Industry, actually on women and reproduction in regards to the Google and their egg freezing policies. I totally did not want to do my dissertation. I hardly knew what Anthropology was let alone how to start a independent masters research project in the area.

I was wrong. I ended up loving my dissertation and enjoying my short stay with the 'coders'. Neither of the company's I researched were 'typical' ICT company's, which was perhaps a draw back for my reseach, but an eye opener for someone new to technology.

And female.

Somewhere along the line, during my interviews, I decided to go native. Yes, I was an anthropology student, yes that is frowned upon by the institution, and did I care?

For the duration of my dissertation I was an objective observer, but post that, how employable was my beloved anthropology making me, exactly, and coding is the skill to have in would seem. Learning to code seemed like the logical thing to do.

I have my doubts, of course, my whole life has not been this, but I am going forward, one line at a time.

There are plenty of miss perceptions about coding, one of them is that it is not creative (purely logical). A coder has much in common with a poet, writer, etc. And this I will explain in successive posts.