How To Deal With Knowledge Inflation As A Developer

there’s always going to be something to learn but when does it ever end?

As developers, it can feel like we’re treading water all the time. You’re constantly expected to learn, to discover, to uncover, to make, and to create. This, of course, is in your own time. In addition to everything else that we also have going on in life, the simple task of staying up to date can tire you out, sap your time, or become downright overwhelming.

Technology as an industry is constantly coming out with new updates, releases, libraries, frameworks, and ideas. The sheer amount of information that gets thrown in our direction seems to grow exponentially each year. It’s part of the knowledge inflation that has ballooned out in recent years. While the new releases are supposed to make our lives as developers easier, trying to keep up with everything can lead to anxiety and eventual burnout.

Before we get into how to deal with knowledge inflation, we need to first understand what it actually is.

Knowledge Inflation And Technology

There’s a thing in biology called the Red Queen Hypothesis. In a nutshell, it’s a theory that’s used to predict the extinction rate of a species. To survive, the animal needs to…