Readability and Scannability | #35

I distinguish quite strongly between "readability" and what I call "scannability". I think that our trade's pedagogues, even our very good ones, conflate the two, and in so doing inaccurately describe programming and ineffectively prescribe remedies. Maybe the way to approach the idea is through your experience of seeing. Humans -- most vertebrates, in fact -- rely heavily on "seeing". The fabric of our experience is richly visual. A large portion of our neocortex is given over to it. Its use as metaphor is ubiquitous. (Age 12, I had an older uncle-figure, blind from birth, was telling him about something, and I said, "See how it works?" Then I realized to my adolescent horror what I'd just said, fumbled & apologized. He laughed. "Relax, kid, I know what you meant, I *do* see how it works.") Our visual experience looms large. And most of us carry around a straightforward concept of how it all works. Episode 35 is live! If you are interested in becoming a part of the conversation, Click here to join the Change-Harvesting Camerata Today! --- If you have any feedback you can always tweet @GeePawHill on Twitter, or drop a voice message via the voice messages link here on Anchor. You can also read the full transcription of this podcast over on GeePawHill.org.