Tools Shape Thinking

We shape our tools, then our tools shape us

John Culkin, writing about his friend Marshall McLuhan, put it best. The tools we use don't just help us think — they determine how we think.

The editor shapes the code

Write code in Vim and you think in motions and text objects. Write in VS Code and you think in extensions and integrations. Write in a notebook and you think in cells and outputs.

None of these are wrong. But they're different, and the differences matter more than we admit.

The framework shapes the architecture

Choose React and you think in components and state. Choose a server-rendered framework and you think in pages and forms. The architectural patterns that feel "natural" are usually just the patterns your tools encourage.

Choosing tools intentionally

Most developers inherit their tools. They use what their team uses, what the tutorial recommended, what has the most GitHub stars.

But tool selection is a design decision. The right question isn't "what's popular?" but "what thinking patterns does this tool encourage, and are those the patterns I want?"

Choose your tools deliberately. They're choosing your thoughts.