ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Andrew Quinn on the Necessity of Reinventing Wheels

other · 2026-05-10

In a recent discussion, Andrew Quinn highlights the need to reassess conventional practices in academic and technical fields. He contrasts the typical requirement of four to five revisions for general subjects with the necessity for twenty to thirty iterations in complex disciplines like mathematics and computer science. Quinn stresses that the pursuit of knowledge should involve proactive exploration rather than feelings of inadequacy about potentially obsolete work. This approach fosters genuine growth and innovation, encouraging individuals to engage deeply with their subjects instead of merely consuming existing information.

Key facts

  • Andrew Quinn wrote a footnote on reinventing wheels.
  • The footnote is part of an article about replacing a 3 GB SQLite database with a 10 MB FST binary.
  • Quinn argues that reinventing a few wheels is necessary to reach the edge of knowledge.
  • He suggests 4-5 reinventions in most domains, 20-30 in rigorous fields.
  • The quotation was collected by Simon Willison.
  • It was posted on 10th May 2026.
  • Quinn warns against the guilt of thinking one's work is already done.
  • He claims directed questioning during reinvention is more effective than idle study.

Entities

Artists

  • Andrew Quinn

Sources