{"id":523,"date":"2023-10-23T12:11:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T12:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasselaursen.com\/?p=523"},"modified":"2023-11-10T07:31:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T07:31:22","slug":"the-virtue-of-selective-ignorance-and-why-i-finally-switched-to-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasselaursen.com\/post\/the-virtue-of-selective-ignorance-and-why-i-finally-switched-to-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"The virtue of selective ignorance and why I finally switched to WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This post is the second in a three-part series about migrating from a self-built PHP-based Laravel backend to a managed WordPress backend, in an attempt to minimize on-going maintenance and custom code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part one <\/strong>discussed why moving to WordPress felt like a visit to the Ferengi homeworld<\/a>, and the final part <\/strong>of the trilogy will round out what recommendations I’d give to other developers migrating to WordPress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you enjoy knowing how something works, then you and I, are cut from the same cloth. I want to know it all. The more I know, the better I can work with something and understand precisely how to use it in the most efficient way possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But knowing everything <\/strong>is a fantasy. Much like a good Steven Seagal movie, it’s never going to actually happen. Even the seemingly most simple things can have a near endless depth hiding behind it. Take, for example, setting the a variable to the value of 1, in C++:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

int variable = 1;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This seemingly simple instruction can easily have layers and layers of complexity hiding behind it. Like how the variable – or more accurately – the space in memory representing the variable, is allocated and assigned, i.e. heap and stack. Another layer of complexity to explore is whether the variable is ever actually memory-allocated and set during execution, depending on the which settings the C++ compiler had set during compilation, and which of the many C++ compilers was used. The memory allocation and assignment instruction may be optimized away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point is: Whether I want to acknowledge it or not, it is literally impossible for me to understand all the concepts I would like to understand, to the depth I would prefer. While I’m sure that the ever shrinking amount of free time I have as an aging adult contributes to this feeling, I think the real accelerant has been gaining deep knowledge in about 3 or more fairly separate fields of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what do you do? If – like me – you’re a strong believer in skill stacking<\/a><\/strong> you definitely do not want to reduce your areas of specialization. If skill stacking<\/a><\/strong> is an unfamiliar concept, I urge you to read Tomas Pueoy’s article<\/a> about it. The gist is: It’s nearly impossible to become the world’s best at one single skill, but it’s quite possible to become the absolute best at a combination of skills, particularly if the combination of skills don’t tend to go together. The key <\/strong>is to find the skills that do not tend to go together<\/strong>, but still compliment each other <\/strong>well, e.g. programming and public speaking. Honestly, if you’ve never read Tomas Pueoy’s article<\/a>, it is a better use of your time, than reading my own word salad. Feel free to leave, become wise, and then when you’re ready to continue slummin’ it here with me, I’ll see you then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All caught up on skill stacking? Great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having solidified that we don’t want to drop any field of expertise as a whole, how do we determine what to become selectively ignorant of?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suggest any sufficiently complicated tool you don’t use often enough. Vague, I know. What’s not often enough, and what if I suddenly need this tool unexpectedly again? While I cannot help predicting the latter, I can comment on the former. “Not often enough” is contextualized by all the complicated tools you use in life. Somewhere, in your every-day activities, is one or more tools that you use the least, and is far more complex than all the others you use just as little. That’s a good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allow me to break my own motivation for embracing selective ignorance into bullet points, with minor examples relating to my old – now retired – custom-built PHP-based Laravel back-end:<\/p>\n\n\n\n