Each week I will choose, or open a page and allow a passage to be chosen, from Lao Tzu’s classic text the Tao Te Ching.
I believe Taoist teaching have much to offer in software as in life, so I’ll be adding some thoughts and reflections alongside it.
All excerpts are from Stephen Mitchell’s translation, unless otherwise stated.
Verse 48
In the pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.
True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It can’t be gained by interfering.
This is one of the verses I return to most frequently.
The desire for knowledge, for greater understanding of the world as a means to control our fate, to be safe in a sea of uncertainty, is a never-ending battle.
In these times of upheaval and great technological advancement, with the pace of change accelerating each day, trying to keep on top of it all is like a cartoon character desperately running to keep atop a barrel rolling downhill.
At some point, we fall off.
So instead, I seek to reduce what I consume. Let go of more.
I no longer read the news. I no longer follow a football team. I haven’t played a computer game in over a year.
This is not to brag, or to suggest this is the right path for anyone else. I say this simply to share my experience that the more I let go, the more space is created in my life, and the more room for the unexpected and delightful, which can lead to outcomes far greater than anything I could have imagined, planned or worked for.
It is hard to do less at a time when everything seems to be screaming at us to do more.
This is all the more reason to do it.
Or rather, not to do it.
In yesterday’s email, the link to
’s excellent Substack was broken. Here is the correct link - I highly recommend checking it out.
And if you missed it yesterday, here’s our chat about junior engineers and the future of the software industry:
Is there a future for junior engineers?
On Friday, I welcomed Evgeny Shadchnev to discuss the question I’ve been wrestling with in recent weeks: what happens to junior engineers in the age of AI?
Such wonderful reflections on such a powerful reading. In stepping back, we open the space for life to unfold for us.
At first, we try to understand and control the world. Eventually, this gives way to loving and serving the world.