wiki/notebook/2021-07-05-12-36-41.org
Gabriel Arazas b088086b06 Merge evergreen notes into the notebook
Now, it's all under the notebook umbrella. Seems to be appropriate as it
is just my notes after all.

I also updated some notes from there. I didn't keep track of what it is
this time. Something about more learning notes extracted from my
"Learning how to learn" course notes and then some. Lack of time and
hurriness just makes it difficult to track but it should be under
version control already.
2021-07-21 16:28:07 +08:00

2.6 KiB

Unnecessary optimizations cripple progress

  • while Involuntary attention switch is good for preventing tunnel vision — e.g., trying out new things, window shopping for better tools — it can go into a case of optimizing every choice
  • this is a form of analyzing too much except we're acting upon our choices; remember: Overanalyzing slow you down
  • additionally, you could think of this addiction from taking too much advantages as you can; it always create the impression that there is an absolute way to do it and you just haven't figured it out yet; recall that Tradeoffs lock yourself in a position
  • unnecessary optimizations are unnecessary wasting of time that could've been used for something else more worthy; the problem, however, is it can be addicting
  • this is affecting people of all walks of life that it has various names: productivity porn, yak shaving, and pre-optimizing software; in other words, the perfectionist stereotype
  • a lot of the improvements we do often comes from new ideas; thus, there is an incentive to present it as a new and shiny thing that you should try it out; sometimes this easily reaches Professional narcissism
  • most of the time, this can be harmful:

    • this can be seen with self-help and productivity culture with gurus presenting themselves as someone who finally figured it out how to get into a constant productive state — e.g., a new method of note-taking, habit management methods, productivity applications showcase
    • part of the Linux ricing desktop community where software are fetishized to make their computing experience to be more productive — e.g., text editors galore, tiling window managers versus traditional desktops, command line versus graphical tools, quests for mouseless computing, learning new keyboard layouts
    • the gaming community has much emphasis on how to game more effectively with specialized mice and keyboards, wide monitors, and software setups
    • on programming, there is a tendency for making the optimized program at early stages or unnecessary optimizations on non-critical code
  • the simplest solution is to get into the mindset of "good enough" and reflecting if it is really worth it at the end; remember that Most of the work is done from smaller amount of effort