The Pleasures of Reading Computer Code
<p>Even if you never cook it. Maybe <em>especially</em> if you never even plan to cook it!</p>
<p>Back in 2013, the author Bee Wilson pondered this phenomenon while reviewing the William Sitwell book <em>A History of Food in 100 Recipes. </em>As Wilson noted, many of these recipes were incredibly ornate — like a lamb korma by Madhur Jaffrey “with an ingredient list that goes on for more than a page”. So they weren’t necessarily the meals you’d immediately rush out to make. Indeed, you might never make them at all.</p>
<p>Even so, as Wilson argued, merely reading such sumptuous, byzantine recipes serves another purpose: They “stimulate our imagination”.</p>
<p>It’s fun to imagine — “hmmm, what would be it be like <em>if</em> I made this dish? How much fun would it be? What would the tricky parts be, and what new skills would it require?”</p>
<p>You don’t need to actually make the food to experience these delights. Reading a cookbook, Wilson notes, is thus like wandering through a mental castle of possibilities …</p>
<p><a href="https://clivethompson.medium.com/the-pleasures-of-reading-computer-code-d433b5bbe869">Read More</a></p>