In the midst of feeling like an outsider, many have found the blank canvas of the coding a place to create and build a "symbolic system that's perfectly clear and ordered." (p. 99)

Not to say that all coders don't have friends or social skills. However, coding allows us to understand a system that has a set of rules and depending on how you manipulate those rules, you gain control over the system (aka systematization). It's a form of power for someone who may feel powerless in other parts of their lives.

Although systematization allows someone to focus on quality not quantity, creativity, ingenuity, cleverness, and humor, it also allows a person to understand and navigate certain social situations through observation.

Although systematizing works much of the time, there are dangers in taking it too far. We have to remember that many systems involve people, and people can be unpredictable and are less likely to be controlled. "But, systematizing inevitably involves a trade-off - rules give you some control, but you lose nuance and texture, a sense of deeper connection" (p. 100). We need to remember that emotion, conversation and face-to-face contact are important as learners.