I didn’t want to add another section that would distract from the main point, but I think it would be more precise to call some jobs semi-bullshit, described approximately like this:
*
Non-bullshit job: Dig a hole, plant a tree.
Bullshit job: Dig a hole, fill it up.
Semi-bullshit job, version A: Dig a hole. No, not there! Fill up the hole and dig a new one here. Actually, wait! Fill up that hole, too, and dig a new one here. Okay, you can plant the tree here.
(The tree is finally planted, so this can be justified as a non-bullshit job, but the majority of your everyday work experience consists of digging the holes and filling them up. You could have planted the same number of trees during a 3-day work week.)
Semi-bullshit job, version B: Dig a hole, plant a tree. Two weeks later, cut down the tree and plant some flowers instead.
(You plant the tree, but the long-term outcome is almost the same as if you didn’t.)
*
Now, to be fair, when I use Claude it’s very similar. “Do this. Nope, I changed my mind, do that instead. Nope, change it again. You know what, just delete it all and start over again.” Not necessarily because the generated code is wrong somehow, often just because it is cheap enough to give commands first and think later.
It just feels really unpleasant when you are a human in that same situation.
I didn’t want to add another section that would distract from the main point, but I think it would be more precise to call some jobs semi-bullshit, described approximately like this:
*
Non-bullshit job: Dig a hole, plant a tree.
Bullshit job: Dig a hole, fill it up.
Semi-bullshit job, version A: Dig a hole. No, not there! Fill up the hole and dig a new one here. Actually, wait! Fill up that hole, too, and dig a new one here. Okay, you can plant the tree here.
(The tree is finally planted, so this can be justified as a non-bullshit job, but the majority of your everyday work experience consists of digging the holes and filling them up. You could have planted the same number of trees during a 3-day work week.)
Semi-bullshit job, version B: Dig a hole, plant a tree. Two weeks later, cut down the tree and plant some flowers instead.
(You plant the tree, but the long-term outcome is almost the same as if you didn’t.)
*
Now, to be fair, when I use Claude it’s very similar. “Do this. Nope, I changed my mind, do that instead. Nope, change it again. You know what, just delete it all and start over again.” Not necessarily because the generated code is wrong somehow, often just because it is cheap enough to give commands first and think later.
It just feels really unpleasant when you are a human in that same situation.