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factorialboy

The fundamental deficiency with our society is that we value talking about X more than performing/implementing X.

This is true for most fields, including programming.

Most teams have folks to do the heavy lifting, and a small percentage of folks who talk about it.

The talkers are considered more valuable than the doers, within the organization or without.

These are our thought leaders, influencers, architects, you name it.

I am not complaining, this is a game we are all playing. It took me far too long to recognize it.

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> The fundamental deficiency with our society is that we value talking about X more than performing/implementing X.

I am so guilty of this. I spend so much time on here and other platforms just mindlessly consuming and participating in discussions about software engineering, new technology, best practices, etc.. So much so that I basically barely program anymore (except for my job where none of this information is important for irrelevant and complex reasons).

I have ideas and projects I want to work on, but I think my brain has be rewired over my life to the point that I get the sense of reward of finishing something by actually just procrastinating/reading and not working towards whatever goal.

It's like information sugar -- sugars are easiest for the body to convert into energy. The body likes sugar because it can get "what it wants" while expending the least amount of effort. My brain has apparently has implemented the same logic when it comes personal projects.

This resonates a bit too much with me.

Man you wake me up,I have doing the same these day, I'm gonna start working on my projects agaun.

This resonates with me to a great extent.

I believe this is a very old problem, which resurfaces in different forms depending on the individual and the context in which they function. I'm weakly certain that CS Lewis even devoted one of his screwtape letters to exactly this problem, but couched in the context of taking action versus writing about taking action.

But since I can't find the money quote right now, and I'm not entirely sure that it was in the screwtape letters rather than some other Lewis book, here's one that addresses an oblique facet of the same paradox:

"the more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel"

Kind of?

In practice, communication is essential. We expect closed feedback loop in our technological systems. Turns out that systems made of humans also need feedback loops.

So I don't know if communicators are treated as "more valuable". Maybe. But it might be fair to treat to treat systems lacking closed feedback loops as missing value. In some cases, they may be borderline useless.

Point being, a great piece of tech needs [1] someone to demonstrate its value. Especially technologies that require many people to maintain them. That's how we close feedback loops in communities and organizations.

[1] OK. Technology-based performance art or side projects are possible. Just don't be shocked if nobody cares and the die off when original creators trade them for other interests.

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