[mnsc]

A recent thing that caused a perspective shift for me was identifying where my drive was coming from. Triggered by the difference between the etymologies of amateur (one who loves) vs connoisseur (one who knows).

Amateur - learns construction on free time ad hoc/by doing, builds a cabin, enjoys living in it

Connoisseur - reads lots of books on construction, might build a cabin to verify competence, enjoys thinking about it

Professional - went to school and works in construction, enjoys the paycheck, doesn't have a cabin

I haven't read the motorcycle zen book yet, but I imagine that is the loving amateur angle, whereas for me I just thrive in knowledge. Translating that to the current AI hellscape, I kinda like that the code crafting bit is a bit less pronounced where I can instead focus on getting to know the system/model/domain of my work. It helps with the dystopian feelings I sometimes get from being in the mine. But if you are a passionate coder, I would imagine that letting someone else build your cabin would be extremely provoking.

Thank you for this post.