[akullpp]

Why do software engineers tend to see themselves as machines with the necessity to be optimized for productivity or is this solely the cultural influence of American capitalism?

While I agree that it is a good idea to optimize chores, so you can focus on interesting issues, I often hit a wall of processes or humans.

One consequence, after a decade of professional work, is to actively dismiss the idea to optimize every part of my life. On the contrary, I value the time where I do nothing at all. It often allows me to clear my mind to be more creative afterwards.

So what I'm really missing, from this very basic article that does not provide any new information, is: Take your time off and do nothing.

[kubanczyk]

> Why do software engineers tend to see themselves as machines with the necessity to be optimized for productivity

The good'ol case of "if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail".

I'd paraphrase to: if you spend half of life optimizing machines for productivity, every problem looks like optimizing a machine for productivity.

You are wise to consciously avoid it. A little bit of discipline goes a long way.

[TeMPOraL]

Huh. I'd go the other way around: if you've found a game-breaking ultimate superpower, of course you're going to use it.

Ability to reason about and optimize systems isn't "the only tool" a conscious programmer has, it's an additional tool they have that most of the population don't. So perhaps "software engineers tend to see themselves as machines" that can be optimized, because they can see it where others can't.

[kubanczyk]

That old saying suggests: be humble. Ultimately we are lazy about how many different worldviews/perspectives we actually use. As compared to how many we think we can use.

Don't think that since you found a good tool, you are a unilateral master of it. Using the tool, any tool, is bilateral relation.