New Project: Programming in Everyday Life

Currently, I'm reading The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. It makes the following claim:

Educators, generals, dieticians, psychologists, and parents program. Armies, students, and some societies are programmed. An assault on large problems employs a succession of programs, most of which spring into existence en route. These programs are rife with issues that appear to be particular to the problem at hand. To appreciate programming as an intellectual activity in its own right you must turn to computer programming; you must read and write computer programs--many of them. 

The authors turn from our encounter with these patterns in everyday life to the theoretical study of these patterns in computer science. I'm going to reverse the movement they're making here. I'll note down their theoretical considerations, then I'll suggest practical conclusions we may draw from programs.