Staunching the Flood

The question recently came up on Stackoverflow about dealing with the flood of new technologies. I ignore a lot. What makes one thing worth a look over another?

We measure any technology based on our personal priorities. What do you care about? What matters to you? I look for freedom/independence, integrity, flexibility, and stability. I values these traits in my own life. And I project those onto the technology that I use.

Know Thyself

Sounds nice and fluffy, doesn't it? I simply begged the question - how do I find my priorities? You see, everyone has priorities. Verbalizing them is another matter entirely.

As a teenager, I would read the Prince Valiant comic strip in the newspaper. One weekend found the cast on an island. The island had some magic that showed you the consequences of every decision. An old man sat in the path, knowing that if he moved a young boy would die. Prince Valiant decides to leave. Immediately he sees that decision leads to a great war - and many deaths. He stops, intending to avoid an awful future.

Another member of the party then asks the question what happens if we stay? Guess what? Great books are never written. Tyrants come to power. Society collapses. The cast then leave. And old man who lives on the island wonders why no one ever thought of that before.

The cast leaves the island because they prioritized. The very fact that you live life means you have priorities. Without priorities, we would sit absolutely still - paralyzed by an infinite number of choices.

Needle in a Haystack

How does one go about learning their own priorities? I can only share some of what has worked for me. These will not work for everyone, because not everyone is like me (thankfully).

• Take a broad, quick look at many different technologies.


• Find people like yourself, and ask them what they like.


• Quantify your reaction as love, hate, or neutral.
  

Quick, Broad Look

Like any good research project, start with the big picture. You don't need proficiency. A basic understanding will suffice. As a bonus, you will also find that this step gets easier the more exposure you have.

People Like Me

Do you know someone whose personality is like yours? Do you share several things in common with them? Find out what they value. What technology do they like? It's a great starting point.

Love, Hate and Neutral

Finally, make a decision. I am an intuitive thinker. My subconscious naturally applies all of my priorities to each technology. The first inkling of a technology's value arrives emotionally. Technologies in line with my values garner excitement. I can read about something new and walk away thinking yeah, they're on to something.

The opposite response also happens - this is stupid. Bad technologies usually have a downside. They go against my priorities.

Neutral technologies work like the name implies. They don't really bring anything new. Yet I see no reason to avoid them.

Full Circle

Now comes the really complicated part. These are not three steps. This is a cycle that repeats itself over and over. Each iteration feeds into the next.

I see a lot of career advice about looking for your passion. And almost none on how. Start looking at the love/hate decisions. What do these technologies have in common? Your passion (if I need to say it) involves the things you love. As you begin seeing those, it filters out huge chunks of the technology world. And you end with a more manageable slice.