Of Frameworks And Religion

Frameworks and religion share these aspects:

1. Religion/Frameworks are both illusory attempts to find simplicity and idealism in an inherently complex and  imperfect environment.
2. A rational examination of the origins of –and reasons for– religion/frameworks, as well as the benefits and disadvantages of religion/frameworks, is unlikely to change the mind of anyone who is afraid to examine these concepts objectively.
3. Even some bright people may feel too frightened to face the challenges they have without the guidance of a framework/religion. Their upbringing has imbued in them the belief that it is safer not to subject the ideas that happen to be en vogue to close scrutiny. Furthermore, becoming an agnostic or a disbeliever can cut one off from the comfort and companionship of co-believers. This potentially damaging consequence of doubting a popular belief system is a strong deterrent to questioning deeply flawed concepts.
4. People/Developers tend to associate in communities of other like-minded people. Believers typically restrict their social circle to other believers. They surround themselves with mirror images of themselves. So, the believer in a religion/framework asks, “How can they not believe as I believe? The believing community/cult usually provides a convenient answer to that question: The non-believers are ignorant or they do not get it. If you hang around them enough it might lead you astray. As a result, the believer in a religion/framework becomes paranoid and afraid of the non-believers, because he fails to understand that non-believers do not need to believe in anything. Non-believers rely on reason, logic and the factual evidence. Instead, the believer, when it comes to their choice of association, sees non-believers as undesirable. Thus, belief in a religion/framework maintains itself through self-affirmation, insulation and exclusion of others who don’t have the same views/beliefs.
5. Frameworks/religions divide us.

Having stated that, frameworks/religion can also help unify us. But unlike religion, frameworks, especially UI frameworks, tend to come and go at a relatively rapid pace, so developers are learning to look for deep principles beneath the surface, where the rate of change is much more bearable.

The meta argument is that it’s really hard to reduce complex ideas like religion and frameworks to either good or bad. So we have to be pragmatic in how we approach technology, focusing on the deeper principles at play rather than the particular framework.