Coding is dead! I’ve been hearing this statement since I started learning to code in 2018. Don’t learn to code they say. We are now in a time where AI seems to be everywhere. It makes you think of all the movies like terminator and iRobot how things went really bad and technology took over. Mankind was placed on the backend.
I think the the biggest fear is the amount of coding jobs that will be available due to the influence of AI. If I’m honest I’m not a big fan of AI myself because I think it cripples us from thinking and relying on AI to get the answers and do everything for us. With that being said I also think ai isn’t something to be feared but understood.
It’s been around for years but we just added a new name to it. Another way to look at it is as a tool. If you see it as something to use to your advantage then you will have an upper hand on it. Just like the computer it needs someone to operate it. The mind is the greatest creation on the face of the earth and we haven’t even used 10% of it. Think about who and what created technology.
So what does all this have to do with coding. Well if you haven’t heard there is an app called blackbox.AI. It allows you to ask essentially any application you want and it will write the code for you, it’s actually quite amazing. Just ask and watch it will write it for you. I think it even does the css if you are specific. All the years I spent on stack overflow trying to find a solution to a problem I could have just asked black box to write the solution.
Should we fear the rise of AI?
Let me ask you a question. Why do you want to learn code? What’s your purpose. Should we really be afraid of AI taking coding jobs. My answer is no. As of 2024 there have been recorded 33.2million businesses. Do you think all of those business will use AI to create assets for their company. An even better question is — do you think those companies will know how to use AI to their advantage?
That is where you come in. AI needs someone to manage it, someone to bring order and structure. That is why I think as developers there is another skill that we need to develop beside learning a programming language. Let me introduce you into a concept that I think will help change your perspective on your goal for learning to code.
Why we need more creative thinkers
The late doctor Albert Schweitzer was once asked “dr what’s wrong with men today” and the doctor replied “ men simply don’t think”. Everyday we live our lives on auto pilot. It doesn’t take thought on getting out of bed in the morning, brushing our teeth and doing the monotonous tasks that we’ve gotten used to doing at work.
Whenever we are faced with a problem, or challenge, we find every way how to not solve it because it takes too much thought and effort. We rather ask friends, family, and Google to give us a solution rather than stopping to come up with our own ideas from our minds.
We have been blessed with the greatest valuable resource that we can’t replace if we lose it— the mind. The mind was capable to come up with inventions like the airplane that lifts over a million pounds of metal into the air. How can we not use the same mind to solve our own problems. The reason is because we are not creative thinkers.
Creativity is not our ability to draw but a way to use our imaginations. It’s finding original ideas from different perspectives. It isn’t tied to specific group of people but a way of thinking. Kids aren’t taught to be it they just try and explore while not understanding the concept of failure. Creativity in its rawest form is problem solving and that is the greatest skill anyone can ever develop.
The solution is problem solving:
Coding is problem solving
“Everything in life is a problem waiting to solved”
When I first learned to code I had no desire to learn it. In fact, I was freelancing and building websites for clients. I was using WordPress to build the websites with prebuilt themes. But I kept hitting a wall when I was trying to design a site. I didn’t have freedom or control of the design.
Sometimes I liked a design from another site and wanted to add it onto my site. (Sometimes I have trouble with restrictions) I kept running into the same problem and then I had a thought; “How do I design exactly what I see in my head?”, then “What are websites made out of?”.
I wanted to know how websites were made from scratch. That small thought led me into the World Wide Web of code, and man was it big. I didn’t know where to start. Luckily overtime I figured it out. That is why I think coding is pointless if you don’t have a problem to solve.
“A goal doesn’t exist without a problem” – Dan Koe
If you have a problem you want to solve you will have a reason to build something instead of going through meaningless tutorials. When you know the problem, you will have more direction, your questions will form and then you can begin to create a path for yourself. Trust me the greatest feeling of learning is when it is self taught because you see all the details and the big picture.
The things you struggled with you will always remember the moment you find the answer. Then you will want to share your success with others. For example I’m learning Spanish and I wanted a way to carry Anki with me on my phone but I couldn’t find an app that did what I was looking for. So I made my own version where I could add my own words and study them at anytime and anywhere I wanted.
How to be a better problem solver
So the question is how do you become a better at problem solving and a creative thinking. Well I’m going to go over a simple process I go through when I have a problem.
Problem solving is a skill and anyone can learn it. It may take some time and practice but if you willing to push through when it get hard you will make it. Which is the first skill to develop.
1 Develop a grit mindset
Growing up I was always told “you’re so stubborn!”. I thought it was a bad thing but what my family really meant was “you’re so determined”. When I’m focused on figuring something out, I’m driven to find the answer at all costs. One of the reasons is because I believe there is an answer and I’m going to figure it out even if all the odds are against me. No matter how long it takes.
So first thing is you have to develop a mindset of not quitting. It’s ok to take a break and come back to it but you have to learn how to push through with the mindset of: there is an answer even if I don’t see it yet. Taking the time to look from different angles to see if you missed something or if there is another way. This leads to my next point where I believe it’s crucial for solving any problem
2 Ask questions
Do you know the saying; “there are no dumb questions?
Well even if you think the question is dumb ask it!
You are on a quest ,and the only way to fulfill the quest is by asking questions that you are trying to understand about the problem. Break the problem down into smaller pieces as much as you can and ask questions about each and every part. The Japanese have a word called mondai which translates to the question is the problem. So essentially the question is in the problem. But there is a phrase that I like to go by and it says…
The solution is in the question
So the more questions you can ask, the more chances you have to find the solution. And don’t be afraid to do research and see if anyone has done it before you. I like to ask and tell myself “did a man do it” because if someone has done it before then it is for certain possible. if not, it’s still my job to find one.
3 Test
Last but not least is testing. Not all solutions you find work but that’s where you have to find out for yourself. A personal example of this was with my website. My wordpress website kept getting hacked with malicious files and it would always go down. I switched over to webflow and it has been great in regards to security. But I didn’t like the way they have their CMS (content management system) setup for blogs . Everything else was great though.
In short I wanted to switch back over to WordPress but with a better and secure hosting provider. The problem was I wanted to migrate my site and I was struggling to find a simple method to do it. With the tutorials I found, and the plugins they suggested, nothing worked. I was frustrated and tired and so I just stopped for about 2 weeks.
After that, with plenty of rest I decided to give another crack at it. I found a tutorial with another plugin suggestion and gave it a try. The migration was a seamless process and now I have my old WordPress site back up and the only thing left was to point my domain name to the new site.
I was so happy that I kept testing solutions I found.
So as you can see I used all 3 of my methods with my determination to find a solution, I asked questions in my research to find the best method, and I tested those methods out to see which one would be the best fit. A simple 3 step process you can use for any situation.
I will also suggest to not be afraid to sit quietly and just think about the questions before you go running to someone or google. You will surprise yourself with some of the answers you come up with.
So again I ask “why do you want to learn code?”. Will you be gripped by technophobia and AI, or will you build your grit up to find a way to use coding in your life, career, or business.
But as a last reminder “don’t learn to code, instead learn to solve problems”.
