I recently read an article that caught my attention. A programmer was asked the question, “in this day and age, should anyone learn assembly anymore?” Assembly is the raw code that microprocessors use, with all the high level programming, is learning assembly even necessarily anymore. I discovered his background was close to mine, I cut my teeth on Apple IIc BASIC at 10 years old. I found it was not robust enough so I learned some assembly, and quickly moved to C/C++ and still used some assembly because it just was faster and more robust. Now languages like Java and PHP are the norm, but back then I spent hours in BASIC, C/C++ and others. The man who wrote the article must have been learning about the same time because he had some of the same experience, and the conclusion he had was a bit surprising. Basically he said it’s never too late to learn assembly and in his opinion leaning it helps make you a better programmer, lays a foundation on how computers process, helps with the understanding on how the modern programming languages work and would help you to troubleshoot and improve your code. I guess I never though of it, but he is correct. It is never too late to go back to the foundation and framework to get a better understanding on things, and it may drastically change something, but the change is always for the better even if its a hard one.
Over the years recently I have made a lot of discoveries about myself and how I process information. Before I just lived with it, but then I started to make sense of some things and it frustrated me. So I went back to the basics, and spend a lot of time figuring out I think and process in framework models. In order for something to make sense, it had to fit into a framework, or model, or you could call it a foundation. Once I figured that out, I realized I needed to first go back and make sure the framework was correct, and make sure everything fit in it. For example, a semi trailer would be a framework. They are all the same size, they all dock to the same height, all have the same connections, etc… but what they carry can be different, but the load conforms to the framework. I found in myself that I have a number of frameworks in place, and things in life fit into those, and if something does not fit I have to decide to just reject it or if I need to readjust the framework. Readjusting a framework can be life changing, its hard, and for most people its a lot easier just to reject the idea rather than adjust the framework, even if you realize the framework is wrong, or too proud to admit or recognize it. It’s like if you realize the supporting wall of your house is in the wrong spot (or someone tells you) and you will have to tear everything down to fix it properly, but instead you just ignore it because rebuilding everything would bee too much work even though you know one day its going to topple. That is where I was, and I decided to go back to the foundational framework, and just ask God to help me rebuild it, and it was not easy to let go of the old wrong, but common, foundations, but I would rather be correct, than thinking I was right.
This actually is no surprise. People are made in God’s image, (Genesis 1:26) God Himself said in Job He laid the foundations, God works in frameworks also, just look at creation and you can see He laid out perfect foundations, like the laws of physics, or even life. Every living cell fits into His prefect foundation/framework, I believe His foundations/frameworks are absolutely perfect, like the framework of an atom, but what is inside of the framework may have corruption from the fall. Since God uses frameworks its also somewhat predictable to know what fits and and He rejects. God never changes, and He never changes His frameworks, things may change in the framework, but the framework its self is never changing. Can you imagine if God decided to the change the framework of an atom? or of life? or energy? or a law of physics? Everything would be destroyed in a instant. His frameworks are just not in nature, but also laid out in scripture.
One of the most important frameworks God has laid out in scripture that is extremely important that completely lays out the entire scripture is His framework of covenant. One day I was reading the Bible and the Holy Spirit just laid this on me, and it totally changed everything and how I looked at scripture. I had to purge out a lot of bad common theology and once I started to look at scripture in the light of God’s framework of covenant, everything started to mesh together like a fine Swiss watch. I no longer see any unexplained conflicts in scripture, everything just makes sense. I will get more into what God’s covenant framework is next week, but it is life changing.
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