Jorge Luis Borges once wrote about an empire that built a map so precise it was the exact size of the territory itself. Future generations saw that the vast map was of course useless. By creating a perfect representation, they’d essentially created nothing at all. You could read this as a gag about obsessive precision. There's a subtler thread on how perfect fidelity paralyzes, but good abstraction lets you take action. Linus Lee (@thesephist) uses that story to frame how the tools we use should meet us. Some tools should disappear into outcomes--GPS nav when you’re running late, or better yet, a Waymo--because arrival is the goal (instrumental). Others should reveal the world--like a physical map or a musical instrument--because wrestling with the complexity is the work (engaged). The tradeoffs for any designer are to understand the user’s needs and goals and offer them either an outcome (instrumental tools) or agency amidst complexity (engaged tools). Great tools are opinionated either way, unlike Borges’ map that quite literally was the territory. Linus joined me on @DialecticPod to explore this framework, talk building internal tools at Thrive, and discuss how LLMs might allow us to create new ways to think and understand. Links below.

All links & transcript: Spotify: Apple: YouTube:

Image credit:

And Linus on this framework of instrumental vs. engaged:

Oops, forgot to include these!