The 'Hidden' Costs of Great Abstractions

Source: Hacker News

The Problem of Abstraction

In the world of computing, we tend to abstract away complexity. Doing so feels liberating because it lets us focus on the bigger picture. Unfortunately, this often reduces the fidelity of our understanding, and we can end up blinding ourselves.

Historical Context

Historically, running computer programs was expensive and time‑consuming. Errors were far more costly than they are today, so knowing the intricacies of how the machine operated was essential; without that knowledge you couldn’t get much done.

Modern Development Practices

As memory and computation power grew, the barrier to entry lowered. Developers stopped worrying about saving a few bytes or CPU cycles. Many simply imported libraries maintained by others, often without fully understanding their quality or when to use the provided functions. This became the new normal.

With the required prerequisite knowledge decreasing and developer velocity increasing, the quantity of software grew, but much of it became slower and more buggy than before. Now, with the advent of large language models, almost anyone can craft a prompt that produces something functional—and even pretty—but it is unlikely to be good.

The Role of Expertise

Discerning good from bad requires expertise. The inexperienced prospector often mistakes pyrite for gold. You can purchase something that looks and feels like steel from a marketplace; it may seem like an excellent deal, but it’s not suitable for building a skyscraper.

The reality is that what isn’t “good” is sometimes sufficient. Wonder Bread isn’t artisan sourdough—it’s cheaper and filling. It may not be as healthy, but it gets the job done.

Personal Reflection

Why bother typing all of this? Why take on the role of Captain Obvious? My “copium” reserves are running low. After sustaining injuries that preclude physically laborious work, my options to earn a living are limited.

As a child, I spent nights reading manuals, running services, writing scripts to automate toil, tinkering with values in flash games using memory editors like Cheat Engine, and analyzing malware by stepping through its instructions in OllyDbg. I was thrilled that people would pay me to do similar things.

Now I am a father with a son who depends on me. I’ve been unemployed since July 2025. I have spent months adjusting my resume, applying for every job where my skill set may be of use, building proof‑of‑concepts using Claude, and doing cold outreach to anyone who might be interested in my potential products or services. The well has gone dry.