Tools Are a Distraction

bdickason.com

8 points·bdickason··7 comments

Especially when used incorrectly. Correct URL: https://bdickason.com/posts/tools-are-a-distraction/

Thanks, Trane!

This is an article about a fallacy, not about tools being unnecessary.

A great surfer can catch a wave on a dining table. But when he's competing in the world championship, you can bet that he'll have strong opinions about the board he's using.

I can write a working program in Notepad, on a dare. But when I'm serious, I'm going to have strong opinions on which tools make me faster, better or more productive.

The article's examples are all about magical thinking from amateurs and beginners, who won't benefit from any qualities the tool might possess until they learn. But when you're a professional, a certain amount of research and a willingness to try new tools and approaches is definitely worth it.

I believe this misses the point that simpler tools are better, not that one should do without them in the trivial case.

Even at the amateur/intermediate level, a good tool let’s one ignore certain concerns and focus on others. This is crucial for developing skill. The expert might now be able to surf on a table, but the beginner will likely never get there (or be quite delayed) if they started with a table.

(I say this knowing nothing about surfing, but I can imagine analogies for almost every other activity. Eg: Syntax highlighting and linting might be particularly useful to non-experts)

(Re)Searching for a new tool in the way described sounds more like a form or variant of procrastination.

Especially spending 50 hours researching the best tool then not using it more than five hours. The whole exercise was a distraction. The distraction itself was the payoff rather than the full cycle of acquire, learn, master, perform.

Link is 404.

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