I think I can do this, but ...

I came across the following sentence in one of Paul Graham's essays:

I think I can do this, but I have to figure out what I'm trying to do before I can figure out whether or not it's possible.

This might not make strict logical sense but it nicely sums up one of the problems facing software developers.

Update on Mon 2006-04-03 by Tristram Brelstaff

This is a modern variant of:

How can I know what I think till I see what I say?

E.M.Forster, Aspects of the Novel, 1927.

Comments

[dcanup]

EM Foster is given credit for that quote but the credit is not really his. Credit really goes to Graham Wallas: The Art of Thought [1926]