Is there a name for the general principle that doing boring things is more effective than doing interesting ones? It seems generally true in a lot of situations.
I think it’s especially true for the type of human that likes Lesswrong. Using Scott’s distinction between Metis and Techne, we are drawn to Techne. When a techne-leaning person does a deep dive into metis, that can generate a lot of value.
More speculatively, I feel like often—as in the case of lobbying for good government policy—there isn’t a straightforward way to capture any of the created value; so it is under-incentivized.
Is there a name for the general principle that doing boring things is more effective than doing interesting ones? It seems generally true in a lot of situations.
Paul Graham called it schlep blindness. He was talking in the context of startups but it applies more broadly.
“Where there’s muck, there’s brass” comes to mind.
I think it’s especially true for the type of human that likes Lesswrong. Using Scott’s distinction between Metis and Techne, we are drawn to Techne. When a techne-leaning person does a deep dive into metis, that can generate a lot of value.
More speculatively, I feel like often—as in the case of lobbying for good government policy—there isn’t a straightforward way to capture any of the created value; so it is under-incentivized.