If You've Never Bought a Tool You Didn't Need, You're Not Buying Enough Tools

A viral essay by Drake Morrison on the rationality forum LessWrong is challenging the prevailing minimalist 'buy nothing' mindset, arguing that strategically acquiring cheap tools is a powerful way to expand your problem-solving capabilities. Using a vivid analogy from thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail—where every gram in your pack must earn its keep—Morrison contrasts that necessary constraint with modern life, where the storage and financial cost of tools is often negligible. His core thesis is that 'Having more tools greatly increases the space of potential plans you can consider,' meaning that simply owning a tool makes you more likely to see solutions that require it.

Morrison identifies a critical flaw in common planning: we often ask 'What do I have?' and 'What do I want?' but skip the intermediate step of 'Can I get a new tool to bridge this gap?' This is especially true for tools we aren't yet proficient with; they don't even enter our mental landscape of options. The physical presence of a tool, like a needle and thread, acts as a cognitive prompt, making repairs a conceivable plan. He extends this logic beyond physical objects to 'tools for thought' like calculus, statistics, programming, or Excel, arguing that many people are blocked more by the plans they can consider than by money. The actionable takeaway is to invest in acquiring and learning general-purpose tools, as proficiency makes their use an automatic extension of your capabilities, dramatically widening your effective agency.