Idea Dump

Still more from the backlog.

• Here’s a note I don’t quite remember what I was thinking when I wrote it. “Software design vs. ‘real’ design – semantics, structure; aesthetics = elegance, simplicity.” I guess I had an idea about what distinguishes software design from other design – that software design is about creating simple and logically coherent structures. As structures, the only “function” of the elements is to communicate with whomever studies them, such that the mental picture of that structure is consistent with the mental picture of others that study the same structure (imageability).
• In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey suggests that when talking to someone that has something difficult to say, one should “rephrase content, and reflect emotion” (empathic listening). I’ve tried this on my daughter and her cousin (three and two years old), and it has seemed to work. (This would fit in the book on parenting I’m thinking of writing sometime.)
• Also from Covey (and this would fit in the book as well), I have been thinking about the importance of being aware of your values, and of the principles at work, when interacting with your children. Especially at times when you are tired, and the children are tired, and when it’s closer at hand to do or say something one would regret.
• At the end of The 7 Habits, Covey quotes Albert Schweizer (?) as having said that the three most important things in raising children is “example, example, example.” I take this to mean that children learn by example, and that being aware of this is the most important as a parent. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find the source of this quote.