We've all heard it a thousand times: "Follow your passion." It's the career advice that's plastered across graduation cards and inspirational posters. But what if there's a more powerful approach? Technologist Bret Victor once suggested something deeper: Follow your principle instead.
Think about it, passions can come and go. That photography hobby might fade, your interest in cryptocurrency might wane. But principles? They're (supposed to be) the bedrock beliefs that define how you see the world.
In his seminal talk “Inventing on Principle,” Victor cuts to the heart of this distinction. While passion answers "what do I like?", a principle answers "what do I believe is important, necessary, and right?"
For Victor himself, his guiding principle emerged from something that genuinely bothered him, that is, watching creative ideas die because creators couldn't see what they were making in real time. It wasn't just inefficient or annoying to him, it felt wrong on a fundamental level.
"Ideas are very precious to me," Victor explained, "and when I see ideas dying, it hurts. I see a tragedy. To me, it feels like a moral wrong."
This isn't dramatic overstatement. For Victor, this disconnect between creators and their work represents a genuine injustice he feels personally responsible to address.
How does this approach looks like
Let's look at how this plays out in practice. Think about traditional programming: you write code, save it, compile it, run it, then finally see what happens. There's also this frustrating gap between your actions and the results.
Victor couldn't stand this. So he built tools where you see instant visual feedback as you type. Change a number in your code? The visual updates immediately. Hover over a piece of code, and the corresponding visual element highlights right away.
Something like this can fundamentally change how people create. As Victor puts it, "So much of creation is discovery, and you can't discover anything if you can't see what you're doing."
He didn't stop with static images either. For game development, he created visual "trails" showing how changes affected behavior over time. Even abstract algorithms became visually intuitive through real-time visualization.
The beauty of Victor's approach is how it stretches beyond programming. For circuit design, he developed tools showing voltages and currents updating in real time. For animation, he built an iPad app letting people directly manipulate and perform movements, instead of just setting keyframes that break creative flow.
An activist approach to technology
What makes Victor's perspective so refreshing is how he frames this work. Not as a “cool” opportunity to make something neat, but as a moral responsibility. He calls this the "activist lifestyle" in technology.
He's in good company. In his talk, Victor highlights other technological activists whose innovations came from deeply-held principles:
- Larry Tesler, for instance, couldn't stand the idea of people being "trapped in modes" while editing text, so he created cut, copy, and paste, features we now take for granted
- Doug Engelbart dedicated his career to "enabling mankind to solve the world's urgent problems" through better information tools
- Alan Kay worked to "bring new ways of thinking to a faltering civilization" through computing
- Richard Stallman built an entire movement on the conviction that "software must be free as in freedom"
I mean, sure, these are all talented engineers, but most importantly, they’re people fighting for what they believe was right, often pushing against the prevailing wisdom of their time.
Finding your own principle
Victor is refreshingly honest about how finding your principle isn't a weekend project. It took him nearly a decade of exploration across different fields and disciplines. It's deeply personal work, understanding what truly matters to you beneath the surface-level preferences and opinions.
Not all principles pack the same punch, though. Saying something vague like "make things simple" doesn't give you much guidance. Contrast that with Tesler's specific principle: "no person should be trapped in a mode." One is a nice sentiment; the other gives you clear direction about what to create and what to fight against.
A strong principle becomes a lens through which you evaluate everything you do. It helps you distinguish between right and wrong in your specific domain. It becomes your compass.
Three paths forward
Victor outlines three ways we might approach our work:
- The craftsman path: Becoming excellent at a particular skill
- The problem solver path: Addressing existing needs or pain points
- The principle-driven path: Fighting for what you believe is right
That third path often means tackling problems others don't even recognize yet. You're not defined by your skills or the problems you solve, but by the cause you champion.
This takes guts, of course. You’ll probably find yourself pushing against established ways of doing things. Your work might initially seem unnecessary to people who don't share your vision. That’s okay. If your principle really matters —if it's truly about right and wrong for you— then the fight is worth it.
What's your principle?
"Every aspect of your life is a choice," Victor reminds us. We choose not just what we do, but how we approach what we do.
Contrast his philosophy with a tech world obsessed with engagement metrics and monetization strategies: creating technology that reflects our deepest values, that builds the world we believe should exist.
I find this idea both challenging and liberating. It asks harder questions than "what am I good at?" or "what pays well?" It asks: What matters so deeply to me that I might fight for it? What change do I believe is necessary and right?
Your answer might not come immediately. It might take years of exploration and self-discovery. But when you find that principle, that core belief that genuinely moves you to action, you might just discover your most meaningful work.
So, again, what's your principle?
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