the tools we use

In reply to...

m150: "Are we defined by the software we use?"

I wouldn't be surprised if to some extent the software we used defined us. We have always been a tool-making species, and to an extent the tools we made have always remade us in turn. But can one quantify the differences between somebody who uses vi and somebody who uses Emacs? Does the software we choose reshape our thinking, and lead us to a different sense of life or a divergent philosophy? Or do we gravitate toward particular tools because of what's already in our minds and hearts?

I don't have an answer, and I'm not really qualified to have an opinion. I suspect it's a bit of both, much like nature vs nurture.