Post

Hearing a lot of this kind of take.. It's only as true as the doomscrolling happiness is: fleeting, moments at a time. Learning is struggling. And struggling leads to a feeling of accomplishment that's more sustainable in the long run.

Bogdan

@bugdan.dev

As much as it sucks to struggle, when you solve a problem through sweat (and maybe tears), that's a different kind of feeling. Sitting with the uncomfortable is what makes the reward worth it. Babysitting an AI isn't as uncomfortable, and the "almost there" high is unsustainable in the long run

29/9/26, 4:17 am0 reposts6 likes

Richard Groß

@richargh.de

I had a conversation about this the other day. So I think it’s two things that create happiness. One is the flow state, which is working right at the edge of your abilities and a bit beyond. Aah what a rush. LLMs do not give that.

Richard Groß

@richargh.de

The second one is that dopamine rush after the struggle, when you’ve solved the problem. LLMs instead provide these small dopamine rushes of constant progress. But they also move the baseline. With LLMs you expect the progress all the time and that creates massive dissatisfaction when you struggle.

Bogdan

@bugdan.dev

Exactly my thoughts/experience as well. There's a reason I keep clicking that "See fewer shorts" button on YouTube. And it's the same. Stoicism is polar opposite to LLM usage IMHO

Richard Groß

@richargh.de

Yes. And stoicism is arguably also the opposite of smartphone usage :)