Hacking - Art or Science?

An anonymous reader asks: "The argument regarding the principle nature of hacking - be it an art or a science is not a new one. This paper hopes to discuss both the meaning of the term 'hack' and the underlying arguments for it being defined as an art or a science, in reference to the base principles and basic methodologies of the discipline. So in your opinion, is hacking art or science?"

Neither.

[TheCamper]

It's philosophy. :)

art or science

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps a good term to some up the meaning of "hacking" is "tinkering".

I think writing is an art.

I hack...

[Karma_fucker_sucker]

therefore, I am.

Or for the Zen masters:
What is the sound of one hand hacking?

Real Genius

[AKAImBatman]

BTW, no one here should be allowed to comment on this topic unless they've seen this movie [imdb.com]. After all, would you be prepared if gravity were to suddenly reverse itself? Would you!? :-P

Re:Opinion only

[Karma_fucker_sucker]

By definition hack is an art -....

When I was coding, someone brought up that the best programmers were people with art backgrounds. After that, whenever a bug was discovered in my code, I would respond with "I code what I feel and I was feeling shitty that day!"

(c) None of the above

[GillBates0]

It's more like 4R7.

"Hacking"

[Nerdposeur]

Hmmm... Well, on the one hand, it takes precise timing and an intuitive understanding of physics to keep the sack in the air. On the other hand, if you do it right, it looks a lot like a dance. :)

Considering the Source

[geomon]

I read the author's treatise but was rather shocked at the company swag. Who in their right mind would take security advice from a company who advertises thongs, vodka, and cocaine as symbols worth publicising?

That is not the company image that would win me points with my boss.

Boss: "That is a rather inappropriate coffee cup [spreadshirt.net] you have there. Please don't bring it to work."
Me: "But our network security company gave it to me!"
Boss: "You're fired."

I guess I'm just showing my age.

And yes, my boss does talk in HTML.

Re:To hack or not to hack, that is the question!

[computational super]

people like Edison and George Washington Carver and Eli Whitney were hackers.

Well, if we're going to discuss historical hackers, we can't leave out Lizzie Borden [wikipedia.org], can we?