When people vibe code for the first time, they're impressed by how easy it is. They think that anyone can make an app now, which is true. Like air travel, their five minutes of low effort become a few days of dedicated work.

But what happens when you put in *the same* effort? *Months* of effort? Well, for one, you can't plan the same way. In five minutes an airliner travels about 60 miles, which is still a human scale distance. But if it could run continuously for a month, it would travel almost 400,000 miles – roughly to the moon and back.

With this much road you need a plan, and one based on seemingly absurd assumptions. What if going to the moon cost a thousand dollars? Everyone would go. There would be space resorts, and tours. Great industries of production and extraction. It must assume that transportation is radically more efficient, so back on Earth they must be able to move whole islands around just for fun. The energy required to do these things would probably be enough to fix the atmosphere. You'd start looking at visiting things that are farther away - Mars would be easy. Maybe visit the sun?

But... side that aside for a minute and check in with the real world. The world keeps on turning! People are movin' and shakin'! They're raising funds to build a bridge across the bay. It's a big bridge, but it will be worth it. They'll probably need a million dollars or so - don't want to cut corners or fall short. It's going to take a lot of people a long time, but when it's done people will be able to cross the bay for ten dollars! Think of the savings!

Well... I certainly hope so, because that's like going to the moon every three months. Why does anyone need to build this bridge when we can move whole islands? Why does constructing it cost so much? Why does it involve so many people? Why does anyone bother spending time talking about this project, let alone planning it?

This is the AI problem: not loss of jobs, but loss of vision. Without understanding what's possible, how can we judge what's valuable? Without exploring what's possible, how can we understand it? Without being honestly curious about it, how can we explore it? If we only listen, how can we be honestly curious?

Don't just listen: be curious

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