Subconsciously, I think some people know their system designs can’t hold up to sustained scrutiny. And their technical aesthetic is weak, oftentimes it is a mental symlink to “best practices” and “what HN/X says.” So talking about the way it has grown, and the why, can provoke anxiety.

So you end up in this weird place where it feels like there is a big pull to make tech about everything but the mechanics of what you actually do on a day to day basis. Or rather, it’s viewed in a very transactional way: “I learn this skill to get that job.”