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Berkman Fellow David Weinberger interviews Paul Graham, software guru, entrepreneur, essayist and painter.

In a recent essay, “Taste for Makers,” Paul argues that successful design, from math to software to painting, relies on the same aesthetic principles. Taste is therefore not a matter of subjectively appreciating fine works but is a required capability for creating great software. But is taste as timeless as Paul suggests? Do the design principles Paul points to result from aesthetic or functional characteristics? And why should we think that the visual and the programmatic, the artistic and the functional, the physical and the virtual might all be beautiful in similar ways?

Produced by Indigo Tabor and Colin Rhinesmith.

Berkman Fellow David Weinberger interviews Paul Graham, software guru, entrepreneur, essayist and painter.

In a recent essay, “Taste for Makers,” Paul argues that successful design, from math to software to painting, relies on the same aesthetic principles. Taste is therefore not a matter of subjectively appreciating fine works but is a required capability for creating great software. But is taste as timeless as Paul suggests? Do the design principles Paul points to result from aesthetic or functional characteristics? And why should we think that the visual and the programmatic, the artistic and the functional, the physical and the virtual might all be beautiful in similar ways?

Download the MP3 (time: 1:19:07).

Produced by Indigo Tabor and Colin Rhinesmith.