"Where I am from, the point of digging is not freedom from digging."
Is it a statement that the point of digging is to reach further and learn more (positive)? Is it a statement more along the lines of "We dig because we must dig to survive." (negative)? Or possibly that digging is simply a way of life (negative)?
The corollary being the axiom:
"If your problem is that you're stuck in a hole, the
first part of fixing that is: do not make the hole
deeper by digging, since that makes the problem worse."
Consider the lyrics from the song Trust Your Mechanic by Dead Kennedys.
Trust your mechanic to mend your car.
Bring it in to his garage.
He tightens and loosens a few spare parts.
One thing's fixed, another falls apart.
Trust your mechanic to make you well.
You're seeing an awful lot of him now.
The quicker he makes your life fall apart,
The more money you put in his pockets."People who cannot dig themselves out of a hole have never tried digging sideways." - JS Developer
Another way of seeing it is when we fix bugs. Instead of fixing one thing and finishing it, we like to touch and try to fix all the things (mostly when we own the code).. Essentially digging your own grave.. sometimes.. :)