from the left-as-an-exercise-to-the-reader dept.
Why We Focus on Trivial Things:
Bikeshedding is a metaphor to illustrate the strange tendency we have to spend excessive time on trivial matters, often glossing over important ones. Here's why we do it, and how to stop.
How can we stop wasting time on unimportant details? From meetings at work that drag on forever without achieving anything to weeks-long email chains that don't solve the problem at hand, we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on the inconsequential. Then, when an important decision needs to be made, we hardly have any time to devote to it.
To answer this question, we first have to recognize why we get bogged down in the trivial. Then we must look at strategies for changing our dynamics towards generating both useful input and time to consider it.
[...] Bike-shedding happens because the simpler a topic is, the more people will have an opinion on it and thus more to say about it. When something is outside of our circle of competence, like a nuclear power plant, we don’t even try to articulate an opinion.
But when something is just about comprehensible to us, even if we don’t have anything of genuine value to add, we feel compelled to say something, lest we look stupid. What idiot doesn’t have anything to say about a bike shed? Everyone wants to show that they know about the topic at hand and have something to contribute.
With any issue, we shouldn’t be according equal importance to every opinion anyone adds. We should emphasize the inputs from those who have done the work to have an opinion. And when we decide to contribute, we should be putting our energy into the areas where we have something valuable to add that will improve the outcome of the decision.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @05:48AM (3 children)
At first I thought it was a book but then there was a weird phrase. That must be it - somebody's got a copyright on a phrase, or probably a domain name. Maybe a book. Who knows? We'll find it appearing on out TV screens if we keep saying the New Phrase enough.
(Score: 4, Funny) by shortscreen on Saturday May 09 2020, @09:06AM
English already has enough idiotic nonsense verbs. How about we call this dildopolishing instead, but with the understanding that anyone who brings up dildopolishing is likely guilty of dildopolishing and therefore should avoid doing so?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @12:23PM (1 child)
If you read the actual article, there's a specific reason for the phrase 'bikeshedding' and it makes complete sense.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @03:33PM
I was too busy dildopolishing to RTFA obviously.
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by istartedi on Saturday May 09 2020, @06:22AM (1 child)
...but maybe I shouldn't.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @10:50AM
I have a garage for the car.
A shed for the bike.
Big deal.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @06:25AM (6 children)
These are very interesting topics indeed!
I propose a meeting to further discuss these matters in more depth. Please send this invitation to all your friends. To get things started, I have come up with the following agenda which all members are welcome to amend:
1. SysV init vs systemd
2. Covid-19
3. Murder Hornets
The review committee eagerly awaits your input on these important matters so that we can develop a more cohesive synergetic monetization of assets. Coffee will be provided.
(Score: 2, Funny) by krishnoid on Saturday May 09 2020, @07:25AM (1 child)
Coffee, sure, but no doughnuts? Oh wait, I was thinking of the nuclear power plant -- never mind.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday May 09 2020, @11:26AM
D'oh!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @05:37PM
We skulls definitely wrap up with vi vs. Emacs. You know, to unite sane people on either side of the init wars against those alt-meta-heathens.
(Score: 3, Funny) by acid andy on Saturday May 09 2020, @05:48PM
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Welcome to Edgeways. Words should apply in advance as spaces are highly limite—
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday May 09 2020, @06:01PM
I ditch meetings whenever I can because its always 1 or 2 needy dipshits desperate for an audience who keep dragging shit out. Or it's some overcompensating maggot desperate to show everybody else how smart they are. And it's probably made more of those types during the lockdown having to do Zoom meetings from home.
Thank Jesus Christ I'm not working right now, meetings have always been a kick in the dick for me unless it's the rare occasion where you're in a meeting with all dudebros you enjoy bullshitting with.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @07:00PM
And they murder honey bees, not people.
Just sayin'.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @06:42AM (1 child)
NO ID2020 NO MICROCHIP NO MARK
WO2020060606
Here is the patent for Microsoft 1. WO2020060606 - CRYPTOCURRENCY SYSTEM USING BODY ACTIVITY DATA , look at the patent number, literally "world order 2020 666" this from the same guy who is publicly saying he wants to put microchip tracking on every human on earth to prove you have been vaccinated to allow you to buy or sell.. Bill Gates needs to Beg God for forgiveness, science with out Gods standards is propelling humanity towards a calamity of biblical proportions. even if bill repents, elon musk has made and is rolling out a 5g satellite grid around the whole earth and brain chips. this is not a joke, this is some fucked up shit..
Revelation 13:16
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.
Revelation 14:9
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his
forehead, or in his hand,
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
#####
MAKE AMERICA LOBOTOMIZED AGAIN
-------------------------------
The Untold Story of JFK's Sister, Rosemary Kennedy, and Her Disastrous Lobotomy
https://people.com/politics/untold-story-of-rosemary-kennedy-and-her-disastrous-lobotomy/ [people.com]
The Forgotten Story Of Rosemary Kennedy, Who Was Lobotomized So That JFK Could Succeed
https://allthatsinteresting.com/rosemary-kennedy-lobotomy [allthatsinteresting.com]
The Truth About Rosemary Kennedy's Lobotomy
A never-before-seen photo surfaces of the forgotten Kennedy, who, after a disastrous lobotomy, was rarely heard from again
https://people.com/books/rosemary-kennedy-the-truth-about-her-lobotomy/ [people.com]
When Rosemary was 23 years of age, doctors told her father that a form of psychosurgery known as a lobotomy would help calm her mood swings and stop her occasional violent outbursts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Kennedy#Lobotomy [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2020, @12:31AM
This is what happens when you turn a bot loose on S/N.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Nuke on Saturday May 09 2020, @09:15AM (1 child)
There is a good example of that, involving literally a shed; one that would affect history.
When the British landed at Gallipoli during WW1 the land was defended relatively lightly by the Turks. If the British had advanced straight away from the beaches, they could have rapidly occupied the whole peninsular, taken control of the Dardanelles, and would soon have been at the gates of Constantinople (as Istanbul was then called).
Instead, the British commander, General Birdwood, spent his first days ashore supervising the construction of a shell-proof shelter on the beach for his HQ, and was not interested in anything else (despite the pleading of some of his subordinates who had reconnoitred the empty area inland). So the Turks had time to bring up reserves, and for the 10 months of the campaign the British were more-or-less pinned to the beaches.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @03:46PM
Should have built a big beautiful wall instead.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @09:23AM (2 children)
While you binge on Netflix, Alcohol, chips, burgers, and ice cream, the world is dying.
A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH AWAITS US, FRIENDS!
Those who endure to the end shall be saved!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @02:13PM (1 child)
Become aware of the fact that you're breathing. Don't try to control your breathing, just be aware that you are breathing. How do you feel?
You will find that through meditation, you can endure many things. Jesus will be there with you, when you are passive, simply watching your thoughts come and go like passing clouds. Just notice them, and don't judge them. How do your shoulders and gut feel?
Personally, I use strength exercises to keep myself nice and thin. Surya namaskar [wikipedia.org] is a good way to start the day. I don't do cardio at all; I've found it's counterproductive and just makes me more hungry. Eating raw garlic also helps by boosting the immune system and metabolism, and it aids in digestion. When my gut isn't happy, I'm not happy, and I can feel it when I notice that shoulders are tense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2020, @12:37AM
You forgot the yogurt for the probiotics to keep your system working.
(Score: 2, Funny) by maggotbrain on Saturday May 09 2020, @03:29PM (4 children)
I hadn't realized that people have been re-writing, messaging, and polishing that simple concept into entire lifestyle/productivity blogs. A veritable cottage industry for overcoming/confronting bikeshedding has apparently emerged. Will the miracles of modern technology never cease? /s
(Score: 3, Funny) by captain normal on Sunday May 10 2020, @02:12AM
I just heard of it a few minutes ago. From mid-2000s, you say. No wonder I never heard of it, obviously a millennial thing, so nothing lost.
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Nuke on Sunday May 10 2020, @10:25AM (2 children)
I went to your link which is an essay titled : Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?
The article is in black font on a fairly dark grey background. It made my eyes bleed.
I care what colour his web page is.
(Score: 2) by maggotbrain on Sunday May 10 2020, @05:18PM (1 child)
Oh. weird.
At first, I was going to apologize because I use the Dark Reader plugin to avoid nasty surprises just like that.
However, I just visited the website again and it appears that it changes background color on reload. Most of the options seem pretty reasonable in terms of contrast and comfort (for me). There are a couple of shocking choices.
Seems like a take on Russian Roulette for websites and you got the bullet. My condolences.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Monday May 11 2020, @01:22PM
You are right - I've gone back and clicking refresh several times has given mauve, orange, blue and white backgrounds! I get the joke now.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @03:42PM (2 children)
A sense in my brain - how do you drive this thing? There seems to be a place upstairs (head) and a place downstairs (heart) for understanding/evaluating things. You have to constantly inhabit one then inhabit the other to get an answer.
There's a transition - back and forth until resolution. Transition is not always successful. In fear, one is unable to inhabit the heart.
The human is the car (the hardware). The controls are mind boggling. It takes years to learn.
So what is the Cartesian truth: I think therefore I am. Not what I see. I see the head and the heart. The machinery. This is the deepest reality. Before the head and before the heart, is perception. Perception is what drives the process. The transition is actually perception. The transition from focused eyes to unfocused eyes is identical to the head to perception transition. Probably the eyes trained the brain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @05:44PM (1 child)
Yes, become the observer. The observer is like the dude. It abides. When you're completely passive and observing your thoughts come and go, then you might notice, after a while, that there are interludes where the brain has nothing more to say... for a few moments at least. But if one is not thinking, how can one be, observing that for a moment there are no thoughts, simply feeling what there is to feel? If there are no feelings in that moment, how can one be, observing the absence of feelings?
Just observing and accepting, breathing with your perceptions of being human. God will take care of the rest.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 09 2020, @07:23PM
The perception finds itself in the human. The human has machinery, perception inhabits the machinery but is not the machinery. It puts the lotion on its skin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2020, @12:43AM
Is it coincidence that this article on trivial stuff comes from the Trivial Stuff Bot upstart and authored by a sock puppet account?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2020, @01:35PM
Bike-shedding is what teams do when they want to avoid solving or tackling the actual problems of their domain.
Absolute classic: Tabs vs spaces.
Any development team wasting time on this clearly wants to look away from the underlying code and towards something less strenuous.
I could run a further gamut. Coding styles, design patterns, Methodologies, Processes, build system wars, Camelcase vs underscores, "Best Practices"
Whenever your development teams are spending time thinking about such things, they are not spending time thinking about code which does useful work.
The purpose of a software project is to write code which performs useful work. Anything which takes away from that, whether dreamed up by management or developers, takes away from that goal and clogs the project with waste and wasted opportunities.
The next developer who advocates OOP vs functional or vice versa should instead be asked to outline the memory allocation strategy of the present system. See how much interest they take in that shed.