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JetBrains Academy“Friction-maxxing”, Failure, and Learning to Code
In a culture obsessed with optimization (global maximums only, please), the internet has taken a particular enjoyment in finding things to “maxx”: tokenmaxxing, looksmaxxing, funmaxxing, sleepmaxxing, etc. If only we find the right virtue to optimize, perhaps all will be right in our lives. Earlier this year, one of these emerging net-native neologisms caught my attention because of the way it echoes a concept in education research that I think deserves more attention.
To practice what I preach, I drew all of these comics by hand on physical paper, scanned them into a drawing software I didn’t know how to use, and proceeded to have many loving confrontations with our design team about “preserving the professional image of JetBrains”. Friction galore!
“Friction-maxxing” is the internet-native’s name for increasing the amount of friction in our passive and hyper-convenient, smooth-city lives. The term is said to have originated in an essay by sociologist Kathryn Jezer-Morton. With endless services and products designed to make our lives more efficient and easier, friction-maxxing is a lifestyle that believes in the value of doing hard things. It might be that embracing and seeking these things out is actually what makes you smarter and happier in the long term.
