3 ms·

For me one unexpected factor is how much it strains my executive function to try and maintain attention on the task at hand while I’m letting the agent spin awa

For me one unexpected factor is how much it strains my executive function to try and maintain attention on the task at hand while I’m letting the agent spin away for 5-10 minutes at a stretch. It’s even worse than the bad old days of long compile times because at least then I could work on tests or something like that while I wait. But with coding agents I feel like I need to be completely hands off because they might decide to touch literally any file in the repository. It reminds me a bit of how à while back people were finding that operating a level 3 autonomous vehicle is actually more fatiguing than driving a vehicle that doesn’t even have cruise control.

falcor84 8mo ago
> But with coding agents I feel like I need to be completely hands off because they might decide to touch literally any file in the repository. Why not just have another worktree?
- bunderbunder 8mo ago
  So the thing about task switching is, everyone is bad at it. And the studies indicate that people who think they’re good at it are even worse at it.
  - falcor84 8mo ago
    I was responding to: > It’s even worse than the bad old days of long compile times because at least then I could work on tests or something like that while I wait. To me it seems like the exact same context switching situation that it always was.
    - kaffekaka 8mo ago
      Not exactly maybe. Different worktrees can still lead to possible merge conflicts later. This may get messy. Working on tests during compilation seems like a more separate task.
    - bunderbunder 8mo ago
      If I’m writing tests and implementation for the same problem, there isn’t so much context switch. Same business domain, same domain model, same API, same contract and invariants. I’m just switching between taking the measurements and making the cuts. Which is a smart thing to do anyway because you can accumulate a lot of need for rework very quickly if you make a bunch of cuts in a row without stopping to confirm you’re making them correctly.
menaerus 8mo ago
For me it's the volume of things that I am now capable of doing in so much shorter amount of time - this leaves almost no space for resting but incurs much more strain on my cognitive limits.
larodi 8mo ago
"It reminds me a bit of how à while back people were finding that operating a level 3 autonomous vehicle is actually more fatiguing than driving a vehicle that doesn’t even have cruise control." this is huge insight and very philosophical in relation to the question of "which skills shall we retain still, and is this a general threat (perhaps not) to majority of traditional skills?"

falcor84 8mo ago

> But with coding agents I feel like I need to be completely hands off because they might decide to touch literally any file in the repository. Why not just have another worktree?

bunderbunder 8mo ago
So the thing about task switching is, everyone is bad at it. And the studies indicate that people who think they’re good at it are even worse at it.
- falcor84 8mo ago
  I was responding to: > It’s even worse than the bad old days of long compile times because at least then I could work on tests or something like that while I wait. To me it seems like the exact same context switching situation that it always was.
  - kaffekaka 8mo ago
    Not exactly maybe. Different worktrees can still lead to possible merge conflicts later. This may get messy. Working on tests during compilation seems like a more separate task.
  - bunderbunder 8mo ago
    If I’m writing tests and implementation for the same problem, there isn’t so much context switch. Same business domain, same domain model, same API, same contract and invariants. I’m just switching between taking the measurements and making the cuts. Which is a smart thing to do anyway because you can accumulate a lot of need for rework very quickly if you make a bunch of cuts in a row without stopping to confirm you’re making them correctly.

menaerus 8mo ago

For me it's the volume of things that I am now capable of doing in so much shorter amount of time - this leaves almost no space for resting but incurs much more strain on my cognitive limits.

larodi 8mo ago

"It reminds me a bit of how à while back people were finding that operating a level 3 autonomous vehicle is actually more fatiguing than driving a vehicle that doesn’t even have cruise control." this is huge insight and very philosophical in relation to the question of "which skills shall we retain still, and is this a general threat (perhaps not) to majority of traditional skills?"