The Lindy Effect implies that the longevity of non-perishable things is proportional to their current age. In other words, ideas and concepts should have more life in them if they already survived for a long time.
That concept applies to the tools I use and the decisions I make as a technologist.
Ideas and concepts are the most non-perishable items. Almost nothing is brand new in this world. The tools we use are usually just a new iteration or a remix.
When I need to decide if something is worth committing to, I ask:
Is this iteration worth it?
There’s a reason Vim (and its alternatives) are still used by many developers. To me, Vim is stable and reliable. It doesn’t bother me. It might be old, but it’s mature. Shortcuts are carved deep in my cortex. It’s a harbor—an environment where I can input, move, and edit blocks of ideas with low cognitive load.
That is also why I fall back to SQL, but it wasn’t always like that.
When I switched to Vim and left non-modal editing, it wasn’t because of a trend or because people I respect used it. It was because I expected a return on the investment.
Six years later, I’ve invested enough into these tools that I get dividends and it shows.
Speed, muscle memory, edge cases, and the mental models of these tools shaped my workflow. They became the mediums of how I write, design, and turn ideas into products.
The effect compounded and now the layers between me, ideas, and their implementation are thinner.
If you’re ready for the long run, the Lindy Effect is one way to decide if a commitment is worth it.