Why I wrote Clojure for the Brave and True
It seems weird to say that I'm almost painfully filled with gratitude for all the good shit in my life, and that that was what motivated me to start writing a free programming book, but that's the truth.
Before I started writing Clojure for the Brave and True back in 2013, I had been deliberately trying to figure out what I could do to improve other people's lives even just a smidge. By that point I had been doing a gratitude practice (just spending a few minutes to think of three things I was grateful for) regularly for a year and a half, and felt that my life was so full with good shit that I felt almost obligated to do something for others so that they'd have more good shit in their lives.
"Obligation" might seem strange here, and it's not 100% what I mean. It's hard to accurately put the feeling into words. Someday I'd like to take the time to do a good job writing about it, but for now -
My life experiences have instilled in me a belief that kindness and generosity are obligations. To take just one experience: for years, I witnessed firsthand the kind of suffering that chronic illness can inflict on someone. That was just nature doing it's thang, cruel, impersonal, implacable. But it was compounded by the constant minor (and sometimes major) abuses delivered by people.
Life is painful enough without humans heaping additional indignities on each other. Beyond this baseline of "don't be an asshole" (incidentally, that's the central tenet of my personal ethics), I think it's imperative to learn to live with kindness, love, and generosity. The bleak perspective on this is that the ship is going down for all of us, and the only thing we have to hold on to is each other. The not-bleak perspective is that we are social creatures, wired to find fulfillment in contributing to each others' happiness; that our greatest joys are found in human connection.
Which is why I wrote a programming book featuring hobbit violence, man-eating trolls, and mopey teenage vampires!
Really, though, programming is a huge part of why my life is so full of good shit. I grew up living in poverty, and now I make a very comfortable living doing an activity that I genuinely enjoy. I have great coworkers, good health insurance, I live in a good house and have a decent car, and I'm confident I can provide for my family. I even have enough free time for hobbies and friends.
So, I wanted to provide something free to the world to help others improve their lives. Learning Clojure has personally made me a much better programmer, and I think others can benefit from it just as much. In learning Clojure, you learn a new way of thinking about programming. It's intellectually rewarding and it has immense practical value; it makes your life as a programmer a lot easier.
Plus, there's something romantic about learning a language that carries on a 60-year legacy. Like you're engaging in a tradition that extends far beyond you. And it's fun! Clojure feels like something you'd want to use in your spare time, for fun, but what's better is that you can actually get paid to use it.
The other main reason I wrote the book was that I needed some way to tell the world about the were-Simmons. The danger is real! Wake up, sheeple!
