In the world of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling constructs a fantastical world under which trolls, muggles, charms, and wizardry coexist. Two characters in particular are of interest to us: one witch Hermione Granger and one wizard Harry Potter. 

These aforementioned characters exhibit different learning paradigms with respect to their magical studies at Hogwarts (School of Witchcraft and Wizardry). Hermione is characterized as a bookworm devoted to mastering every aspect of her magical studies, whereas Harry is shown to be content in achieving general proficiency. Harry represents the conjurer paradigm, whereas Hermione exhibits characteristics of the scribe.

The scribe seeks to understand every nuance, detail, and aspect of their chosen language. The desire to acquire mastery (such as the impulse to engage in deep debugging techniques or document every aspect of a particular API) characterize the scribe well. The conjurer stands in stark contrast to the scribe: the conjurer ignores complexity and relies heavily upon intuitive leaps.

It is wise, at least in the context of the first couple weeks at Hack Reactor, to approach learning with the mindset of the conjurer. For the purposes of reducing cognitive load, it is important that one’s approach to understanding code should be intuited or conjured, as trying for mastery at an early stage carries too high of a cost (namely time and effort).