Your Tools Shape You, Too


(Category of post: obvious thoughts rephrased by yet another college student.)

Thought as a Technology

You begin to think with the interface, learning patterns of thought that would formerly have seemed strange, but which become second nature. The interface begins to disappear, becoming part of your consciousness. You have been, in some measure, transformed.

The point is in the title. Tools shape how you think, so it’s worth wondering what a tool will make easy, because you’ll favor thinking about those sorts of things.

And the flip side: whatever the tool makes hard, you’ll think of less. But sometimes, that’s a bad idea.

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