Mastering Tools
  • willingness to master a tool seems to be higher in a professional setting
    • in some settings, even making own tools is common - woodworking, metalsmith (this is relevant to tools building us, and us building the tools)
  • interesting relation with spending time to learn keyboard shortcuts
  • there seems to be some connection between hardware and power-users:
    • MIDI keyboards, pads, etc. for musicians
    • 3D SpaceNavigator mouse for CAD
Bicycle for the Mind
  • computers are currently made to be "easy to start using", bicycles are not - they require effortful learning (and mastering), but it pays off in the long term
Improvements vs Breakthroughs
  • but most important technologies have high barriers of entry - written/spoken language, mathematics, etc. all require conscious effort to master, but the "payout" is huge - maybe there's some relation between how high the entry barrier can be vs how big the "payout" is?
Szymon Kaliski © 2020
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