It’s Not a Bug, It’s a Feature
I think it’s a new feature. Don’t tell anyone it was an accident.
-Larry Wall
In 1946, computer scientist Grace Hopper recorded the first actual case of a bug being found. When her Harvard colleagues opened up the Mark II to see what was causing the computer’s errors, they found a moth trapped in a relay. To fix the problem, they had to “de-bug” the machine by carefully removing the moth. She taped the infamous moth into her logbook. Errors or glitches in programming have subsequently been called bugs.
Many things in life are features and not bugs.
Software “Bugs”
We have a standard format for reporting bugs. The reporter lists the steps to reproduce the bug. They say what they expected to happen, and what actually happened (along with a screenshot and snapshot of the console).
This format allows the engineers to understand exactly what is “not working” in the software. It seems tedious to list out all the steps each time and to say what was expected vs actual. In a perfect world, software should work flawlessly. However, sometimes what is perceived as a bug may result from not fully understanding how the software functions.
Let’s start with an example:
Repro[duction steps]:
Select Tasks & Services
Select Services
Create Service
Expected: The option to create a one-off service appears on the screen.
Actual: Only recurring services are available.
This ticket feels like a bug to the user until they understand that all tasks are one-off and all services are recurring. The purpose and use of “tasks” is different from “services.” A service has a recurring contract, e.g., for gardeners to come every week. A user wants to view all their services in one place. A task needs to get done once, which generally involves an action around a lease or a third-party vendor who invoices through Ender. One-off tasks go through a separate approval and classification process than a recurring service.
This purposeful delineation makes sense when you understand the product and end-user workflows. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. The request, if any, should have been around UX improvements, e.g., creating tooltips explaining what services and tasks are or changing the workflow to be more intuitive.
Life “Bugs”
This concept expands beyond running products at a company. It applies to people and institutions.
In March 2020, back when the world was scared of SARS2 and early (heavily flawed) data showed a ~10% fatality rate, my friend contracted SARS2 from his dad. His dad is a hard-headed successful businessman. Others told him to be careful and to stay safe, he didn’t listen to them. He was successful because of his hard-headed ways, and he contracted SARS2 because of his hard-headed ways. The same traits that made him successful in business made him one of the first people to contract SARS2. It’s a feature of who he is, not a bug. Positive patterns in one area are anti-patterns in another. His dad would have needed to change his personality to be the person who listened and stayed safe.
Societies try to change what is innate to humans. This can be positive and lead to amazing, unnatural ideas like human rights and freedom. It can also lead to unforeseen negative consequences, e.g., pushing abstinence-only programs to high schools led to a dearth of sex education, which led to more unwanted pregnancies and increased STDs.
Other features that are not bugs:
Inequality-- power laws are features of our civilization. Outliers will always exist. In physical ability, mental ability, artistic ability, business acumen, and every sector.
Religion-- it’s natural for humans to crave community and a framework in which to live their lives. I have friends who love religion except how religion proselytizes. Most religions only exist because they proselytize.
Fashion over function– survival of the sexiest from peacock feathers to frogs, crickets, and birds making noises to attract mates. Humans follow this as well.
Tribalism-- whether around sports, hometowns, politics, food, or language. We want to associate with those who are similar to us. Those who are in our tribe. We seek to be a part of tribes.
Influencers/social media stars/inspirational CEOs optimizing their life for media-- it’s a feature of humanity to follow those who are famous. And it’s a feature of those who gain prestige from their fame to try to attract more attention to themselves.
I’m not saying any of these features are necessarily good, but they’re features of humanity. Almost every human bias seen as a bug was once a feature when we lived in small tribal groups. Our emotional brain is a prime example. There’s a massive discrepancy between how we intuitively feel systems should be designed vs what works in reality.
We should fight against human biases that bring harm to others. However, some biases on a societal scale can never truly be fixed given how innate they are to the human condition. It’s better to lean into positive versions of them, e.g., humans need religion/a greater purpose.
For better or worse, these features make us human. The good news is there are ways we can alter ourselves by changing our incentives.