Programming and Alchemy
Published:
The picture above is the cover of Psychology and Alchemy (ISBN 9780415034524), a book in the series of Collected Works of C.G. Jung published by Routlege.
Alchemy is a frequent theme in Jung's thought. Given his fondness for mythology and symbolism, it is not surprising at all. Despite this, Jung was not a mystic (The Red Book nothwithstanding); in my opinion he had a really practical approach to psychology, and this extends to his treatment of alchemy.
Was he looking for the philosophers stone, eternal youth, and a way to manufacture gold? No. Jung realised that the alchemical work resembled the struggles of patients in psychotheraphy, or people seeking to be at peace with their self and find what exactly it is. In general, the steps of The Work resemble steps of the process of individuation.
How is this in any way relevant to programming?
The main idea in Jung's Psychology and Alchemy is that alchemists used alchemical processes as the means of projecting their inner psychological processes onto matter. Is a similar thing happening to computer programmers?
It may not be a thing among software developers, or people who only see programming as a day job, but among those who are passionate about the craft... I think I can see something.
The craftsmen will struggle and sweat to produce the unobtainable, the ideal - software which will be the perfect vehicle for the realisation of their ideas and wishes. The Work—programming, not alchemy—is, in this case, the means of making mind triumph over matter. Simply put, it is magic.
Expressing a program perfectly—or as closely to perfect as one is able to—signals the aforementioned triumph. That program is the lapis philosophorum of the programmer-alchemist, the ultimate goal of The Work. What does it represent, though?
My case
Is the lapis—the philosopher's stone—supposed to turn copper into gold? (Humorously, some could say yes. While not being an El Dorado, programming can give one a pretty comfortable life.)
I think not. That said, I am not a trained psychiatrist, psychologist, or psychotherapist, so my opinion should be taken as an opinion of a dilletante—with all this entails. I can also only speak about my own personal experience, and this is what I am doing here.
What is lapis in al–programming, then? I think it is a proof.
It is a proof of that one is capable of challenging the chaos that is the world and emerging triumphant, capable enough to exert force on the environment one lives in and subject it to one's control.
Then comes the transference. The program becomes a symbol of the al–programmer's life in general; by succeeding to control the chaos of the former, one gets the approximation of the latter. And if I can take the nigredo of the program and take it all the way to the lapis, then, surely, I must be able to the same with my life!
This is, of course, false—but can be calming to distressed minds. It is an empty illusion which provides a temporary relief from the fact that one's life is in shambles, and all around swirls the uncontrollable mass of chaos which can never be conquered (or seems unconquerable).
When the al–programmer's confidence born of his ability to create the lapis inevitably gets shattered by the real world, he retreats to his laboratory again to begin The Work anew. The problem is... I think this never—or rarely—works.
If your life is broken, your life is broken. Not your code, your algorithm, your compiler, or what have you. Your life. No amount of transference, projection, and magical thinking will fix it. Whatever you project you problems into, and whatever you do to fix them in this proxy will be insufficient, and will ultimately do fuck all to help you.
Generalisation
The al–programmer is—as have been the alchemists—seeking salvation through Truth. He projects his inner life into his Work, and subconsciously hopes that by achieving success in The Work he will fix his life.
I would say similar behaviour may be seen in gym-goers, for whom salvation is to be brought by Beauty after they take the advice of "Just hit the gym, man." The Work is, in this case, perfecting one's physical frame.
I would guess that there are people who also seek salvation through Good, as that is the last of the transcendentals. That would probably mean the Work is literal voluntary or charity work. The goal is the same in either case—calming inner mind by calming outer world.
The three approaches mentioned here—Truth, Beauty, and Good—seem to me to correspond with Viktor Frankl's three reasons to live. I would equate them as Truth–Work, Beauty–Love, and Good–Sacrifice. I may be going too far here, I am not sure.
The Work
The alchemical Work—whatever the medium, and whatever the ultimate lapis—is the work towards fixing one's inner distress. However, unless one realises this fact and begins to direct effort to where it is really needed, one will be forever trapped by this illusion—locked in his laboratory with alembics and furnaces, keyboards and screens, or dumb– and barbells and bench presses.
What is the solution to this conundrum? Hell if I know.
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