Q.E.D.-Perl Monks are not canonically virtuous

[SuburbanHermit]

It is written in Saints in our Book that "there are a lot of things monks are supposed to be but lazy is not one of them." Yet, St. Larry hath sayeth in the Great Canon that laziness is one of the three great virtues of a programmer. If a Perl Monk is a programmer, then one must conclude that:

• Perl Monks are not virtuous.
• No virtuous programmers are (or would every strive to be) Perl Monks.

A corollary is that, if St. Larry is virtuous, then:

• St. Larry is not a Perl Monk.

I will admit that the virtue of hubris might outweigh the virtue of laziness, and lead an individual programmer to seek the glory of sainthood.

But I'm probably not one of them. As an esteemed programmer-god, I proclaim proudly that I possess heaping amounts of the virtue of laziness, so it looks like way too much work to gain Perl Monk sainthood. Therefore, unless you can grant me sainthood right this minute, y'all will never hear from me again.

[footpad]

It is written in the Book of Camel (3rd Ed, Oct 00 printing), p. 993:

laziness
The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving programs that other people will find useful, and document what you wrote so you don't have to answer so many questions about it. Hence, the fist great virtue of a programmer.

Note that didn't say you gained benefits without first investing in their achievement. It argues, rather, the propriety of doing the work now, when it's easy and cheap, as opposed to later when it's forgotten, difficult, and expensive. As with money, you gotta invest to earn. $XP = ( $work && $help).

The first virtue of a programmer is to identify when work now can allow you to be lazy later.

Furthermore, your logic is flawed. You have not established that Perl Monks aren't virtuous. While some find thank-you nodes useless, that fact that they're being posted means that some folks feel as is they're being helped. Since the BSA considers "Helpful" one of the twelve virtues of Good Scouting, it is possible to argue that helpfulness is virtuous and that Helpful Monks are therefore virtuous ones. QED.

Finally, St. Larry (all praises to his work) doesn't have to be a PerlMonk; he already knows and understands the language. Remember, church is for sinners.

So, buckle up and start noding. As of this writing, you only have 2998 XP to Elevation, at which time you'll be able to claim a halo and buy a cup of coffee (Grandé/Drip) for $1.50/U.S (local prices may vary). ;-)

--f

[chipmunk]

Q.E.D.? I disagree...

This is an interesting argument, but I have some counter points:

Laziness is deemed a virtue of a programmer, but not necessarily a Perl Monk. It's possible that a Perl Monk/programmer could be lazy in their role as a programmer, while being active in their role as a Perl Monk. As an analogy, a person may be an aggressive driver (hello, road rage!) while being polite in face-to-face interaction.

There is more than one kind of laziness. An appropriate kind of laziness for a programmer is to save effort through good design. A bad kind of laziness is skipping the design phase, making more work later. While 'laziness' as a virtue of a programmer refers to a good kind of laziness, 'lazy' as used on the Saints in our Book page may refer to a bad kind of laziness. So, a Perl Monk/programmer should be lazy in a good way, but not in a bad way.

I conclude, happily, that one may be both a virtuous programmer and a worthy monk.

[jeffa]

Ya know, i always wondered about that quote on Saints in our Book . . . oh well, 2 outta 3 ain't bad. :D

Another nit pick i have is that i never got to bless or curse anybody. I still practice though, just in case:

BY THE POWERS INVESTED
IN ME AS A SAINT I GRANT THEE
SAINTHOOD, RIGHT THIS MINUTE

did it work?

[damian1301]

But I'm probably not one of them. As an esteemed programmer-god, I proclaim proudly that I possess heaping amounts of the virtue of laziness, so it looks like way too much work to gain Perl Monk sainthood. Therefore, unless you can grant me sainthood right this minute, y'all will never hear from me again.

Ok, so, let us break this down.



...and lead an individual programmer to seek the glory of sainthood. But I'm probably not one of them.

To earn the glory of sainthood? All that this site does it provide a fun and educational way to learning Perl, and you *do* learn a lot of Perl here.


As an esteemed programmer-god, I proclaim proudly that I possess heaping amounts of the virtue of laziness, so it looks like way too much work to gain Perl Monk sainthood.

Hell, I used to think I was a good, confident, or well-esteemed programmer...until I started hanging out here and saw what the other guys around here could do. I think I've flew right on through the XP system because as I post and (most of all ) learn, I get XP for accurate posts and helping out other people, which is truly a great thing.


Therefore, unless you can grant me sainthood right this minute, y'all will never hear from me again.

Ok, let me get this straight. You think that if you can't be honored as a saint with *no* effort or anything but a post to the place, then you will leave?! Personally, I think that is just pathetic. At that note, I am off...

Tiptoeing up to a Perl hacker.
Dave AKA damian

[nysus]

If you don't understand that "laziness" is getting used with a heavy dose of irony, you don't deserve to be a saint, IMHO! :-)

$PM = "Perl Monk's";
$MCF = "Most Clueless Friar";
$nysus = $PM . $MCF;

[petesmiley]

Didn't Larry also say to beware of false laziness.