> I think this is very easy verify: just climb down the abstraction ladder and try to solve some particular problem without those abstractions. If you then find

> I think this is very easy verify: just climb down the abstraction ladder and try to solve some particular problem without those abstractions. If you then find yourself yearning for monads, macros or whatever else, then no - you haven't. I yearn for things that don't actually make me more productive at times. "Will this save more time than it costs?" Lots of possible things influencing that to forget or poorly estimate. You're right that going back to basics and seeing the pain points that arise (or go away!) is informative, however.