While reading this week’s article, I found myself asking — Why do we enjoy live coding?

“But the longer we listen, the more boring it becomes. Our sense of anticipation grows as we wait for something more, for change, uncertainty, the unpredictable, the resumption of information.”

Is it because of the entropy it creates? We can unconsciously seek experiences that are chaotic and unpredictable, and creating this in a predictable, coding environment can seem safe and exciting.

“Random corruption should not be confused with random generation.”

When differentiating between corruption and generation, I wonder if it’s this precise noise that is so appealing about live coding.

Are there people who don’t / can’t enjoy this random noise “corruption”? It seems that at times, performances can get intense on visuals and audio. Speaking from personal experience of creating a visually intense experience in another IM class, people with epilepsy were advised not to part-take in it during the showcase, because it could trigger a physical response. So is it the same with live coding? Can some of the improvisation elements get so out of control that they become triggering?