Coding and Creation

There's an old acronym that I remember hearing a previous computer teacher refer to when talking about web-editing software. The term that he used was "WYZWYG," which means "What you see is what you get." This term came about as the proliferation of image-based web editing programs allowed users to create webpage content based on what they saw in front of them rather than typing in code that would later translate into the final viewing format. But my recent foray into the world of basic HTML coding has reminded me that in reality, what you (or I) see in front of us is not always what we get, or at least not what's hiding behind the surface.

It is fascinating to think that all of the webpages I visit and use on a daily basis have some kind of code that makes up the fabric of the entity it presents to the public eye. I'm intrigued as I think about how a simple element such as the background color of a webpage requires a code to present that color.

This idea that behind-the-scenes coding is responsible for what is visible extends beyond the topic of computer technology. One can simply point to the molecular structure of our bodies, or the complexities of how the human brain operates according to its own code, constantly sending and receiving signals to keep us moving. We don't see the individual molecules in our bodies or the electric signals of our nervous system, but they nonetheless make up the codes that affect so much of our daily living. What put that code into place? What is holding it altogether?

It is my belief that all of life was coded by a Creator, a divine Webmaster, if you will. As the physical world is held up by various unseen codes, so too, I believe, the spiritual realm consists of another set of codes that interact with our physical world. As an actor and playwright, I often work through different questions and concepts imagining them in the form of a play. What comes to mind as I make connections between coding and every day life is a play in which God is sitting down at a computer, writing the codes for the world, much like we are writing HTML in this class.

Angel: Whacha doin'?
God: I'm writing the code for a new planet!
Angel: What's this bit of code right here?
God: Oh, that determines what color the sky will be. I've been thinking of green, but I might try blue. Maybe I'll put green somewhere else.
Angel: Perhaps green on the bottom, blue on top?
God: Interesting....

 This could go further, but you get the idea.

What you see is what you get...or is it?