Procedure versus data, part 2

This whole argument about “procedure versus data” is perhaps a bit of a red herring. Long before computers, the two modes of operation formed a complementary set.

For example, you probably know a musician who has an encyclopedic memory for songs. You name pretty much any song, and he or she will remember that song on the spot and play it for you.

And you may know a musician who is a great improviser. You name a musical style, and he or she will be able to immediately riff in that style and create something new, something that has never been heard before.

In my experience, one rarely finds a high level of development of these two complementary skills within the same individual. And that makes sense, since each kind of skill takes not only native talent but many hours of time and practice to learn and develop.

But why should these be seen as two separate skills? Isn’t there some place where they meet, and build upon each other? More on this tomorrow.