It's funny how my mind works. If the majority of people do something, and I haven't done it previously, then I automatically eschew it, probably out of a desire to be non-conformist. I know, that's non-conformist in a conformist way, but that ain't the point. But then if something gets me really interested in that thing, I completely reverse my position and embrace it, totally ignoring any past feelings towards it. That make any sense?

Anyway, that's how it goes with the guitar. Quite a few programmers seem to play it, and I always used to look on it much like I did anime - a silly fad that programmers pursue in order to "fit in" or something - sort of a test of whether you're a nerd or something. Of course I'd like to think I didn't bunch all such people as falling into this trap - there would obviously be those that did it out of an actual interest. Yet I was quite convinced that there were those who did it because they saw so many other programmers doing it (note I'm completely confining this example to the programming community - everyone else is excluded from this little analysis). But now that I've started learning..! The same comments I once viewed with wry amusement I now see with sycophantic admiration. Truly, there is not a fool as big as me. Ironically enough, I've probably started sub-consciously for the same reason those others did - to follow the herd.

How interesting it is to analyse the psyche of a fool!