This is a page of terms and concepts Alan Kay mentions often. It is meant to be a useful glossary to what are often fairly opaque references. This is and always will be an incomplete work-in-progress (currently it needs a lot more references filled in as well as larger organization). Enjoy!

Note: All video references are timestamped. Each one attempts to be under two minutes.

• Powerful Ideas — Powerful ideas are ideas humans have discovered or invented that are very difficult to find naturally, but very useful to civilization once they're understood and disseminated. They're often stated in opposition to our natural tendencies as humans. Some examples include:

  • The invention of science — It was only in the past 400 years that humans have started deeply understanding the physical world. References:
    • Rethinking CS Education at 1h03m50s
    • Programming and Scaling at 41m43s
    • Rethinking CS Education at 34m10s
    • Rethinking CS Education at 53m27s
  • The American constitution — References:
    • Rethinking CS Education at 18m41s
  • and democracy — The founding of the United States created a robust political system of checks and balances that could survive deep disagreement without massive political chaos.
  • Citizenship — References:
    • Rethinking CS Education at 46m39s
  • the written word
  • the printing press
  • perspective drawing
  • integral calculus
  • human rights
  • TCP/IP — the communication protocols of the internet as reflections of robust biological systems. TCP was able to scale 7 orders of magnitude and has never been shut down.
  • Systems-thinking — References:
    • Rethinking CS Education at 47m58s

• Object-oriented programming — Alan Kay coined the term object-oriented program, but his conception of what it is is much different than what the term refers to today. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 1m50s

  • Programming and Scaling at 10m15s

  • Programming and Scaling at 18m52s

  • Programming and Scaling at 25m12s

  • Alan Kay on Messaging (A short note on misunderstandings around the word object. The big idea is , not objects.)

    messaging

• Reality is a construction — Goes by many names, including "confusing our beliefs with reality", "the waking dream" (from Shakespeare), and "the world is an illusion". The notion that what we think of as common sense is actually a fiction. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 6m53s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 49m59s

• Human perception is flawed — References:

  • Rethinking CS Education at 50m57s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 53m48s

• Stories, narrative, and theater — In Kay's worldview, stories are the traditional way our minds work, and include things like simple cause and effect, single heroes vs systemic causes. Often stated in opposition to science or math or systems thinking. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 41m43s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 14m01s

• Theater — References:

  • Rethinking CS Education at 14m01s

• Gulley or Canyon model — References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 34m16s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 49m59s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 1h02m09s

• Kahneman System 1 vs. System 2 — Referring to Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking Fast and Slow, System 1 is a name for the set of human responses we do fast and unconsciously. System 2 is the name given to more measured, longer-term thinking.

  • Rethinking CS Education at 55m26s

• Tinker toys / clocks / apis — Examples of brittle and unscalable engineering systems. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 8m13s

• Empire state building — Kay uses the Empire State Building's construction as an example of a well-engineered system. He also compares its height to the lines of code in current massive software projects. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 10m51s
  • Programming and Scaling at 42m52s

• Microsoft Word justification bug — A bug in Microsoft Word that is 25 years old and has never been fixed because the software is so complex. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 14m12s

• The internet and TCP/IP — An example of a robust, biology-inspired technical system. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 15m55s

• The web — An example of a poorly thought out technical system. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 17m02s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 28m29s

• Biological systems — Examples of robust systems abound in biological systems. Often stated in opposition to brittle mechanical systems like clocks. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 18m03s

• IQ vs. Knowledge vs. Point of View — The difference between raw intellect, knowledge in a culture, and powerful points of view. References:

  • Programming and Scaling at 26m19s

• Point of view is worth 80 IQ points — A famous quote by Kay referring to the idea that if one is using a powerful idea, one immediately becomes intellectually more capable. An example is calculus, which we don't have to be smart enough to invent to be able to use.

  • Programming and Scaling at 28m21s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 33m25s

• Qualitative leaps or thresholds — References:

  • Rethinking CS Education at 25m50s
  • Rethinking CS Education at 1h7m12s