[Tutor] decomposing a problem

[Mike Mossey]

> On Dec 27, 2018, at 3:32 PM, Avi Gross <avigross at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> [Mark Lawrence please press DELETE now in case the rest of this message is
> all about you.]
> [[If that is not working, if on Windows, try Control-ALT-DELETE as that will
> really get rid of my message.]]
> 


Hi Avi,

Mark doesn’t have a basis for complaining, of course, as he can simply not read your posts.


> Back to replying to Steven,
> 
> Of course I want to be corrected when wrong.
> 
> I think everyone here knows I tend to be quite expansive in my thoughts and
> sometimes to the point where they suggest I am free-associating. I am trying
> to get to the point faster and stay there.

Since you are expressing interest, I'll give some thoughts. 

I think it’s important not only for writing, but for economy of thinking to use fewer words and simpler concepts, and it can make us better programmers and teachers. 

Previously, when I worked alone as a programmer, I was stuck in overcomplicated ways of thinking. It’s “getting out there” and interacting with people that rejuvenated my thinking, and I’ll be forever grateful.

One form of practice at this is to edit my posts for brevity. Here’s a link about brevity in writing:

http://copymatter.com/embracing-brevity/

It helps me as well that I tutor students in math and computer science regularly, because it forces me to get more simple and concrete. A student is a “feedback device” — when I’m doing better, I can read the results in their expression and their understanding.

I think it’s important both to have something you are aiming for (a sense of what level of brevity you’d like to achieve) and a feedback mechanism that helps you to know if you are succeeding.

Take or leave these thoughts as you see fit.
Mike