Reinvent the Wheel

Summary

Published on 24th of May, 2025Reinvent the WheelOne of the most harmful pieces of advice is to not reinvent the wheel.It usually comes from a good place, but is typically given by two groups of people:those who tried to invent a wheel themselves and know how hard it isthose who never tried to invent a wheel and blindly follow the adviceEither way, both positions lead to a climate where curiosity and exploration gets discouraged. I’m glad that some people didn’t follow that advice; we owe them many of the conveniences of modern life.Even on a surface level, the advice is bad: We have much better wheels today than 4500–3300 BCE when the first wheel was invented. It was also crucially important that wheels got reinvented throughout civilizations and cultures.Note: When I say “wheel” throughout this post, please replace it with whatever tool, protocol, service, technology, or other invention you’re personally interested in. Inventing Wheels Is Learning“What I cannot create, I do not understand” – Richard Feynman, Physicist and Nobel Prize WinnerTo really understand something on a fundamental level, you have to be able to implement a toy version first. It doesn’t matter if it’s any good; you can throw it away later.In Computer Science, for example, there are many concepts that are commonly assumed to be beyond the abilities of mere mortals: protocols, cryptography, and web servers come to mind.More people should know how these things work. And therefore I think people should not be afraid to recreate them. Everything Is A Rabbit HoleToo often, fundamental things are taken for granted. For example strings or paths are super complicated concepts in programming. It’s a great exercise to implement a string or a path library yourself if you’re interested in how they work.Even if nobody ends up using your work, I bet you’ll learn a lot. For example:There is an infinite complexity in everyday things.Building something that even a single other person finds useful is a humbling e...