May 8, 2026 9:29 PM KST
to path find
Pathfinding is exploration. Exploration is learning, growth, engagement, adventure—all vignettes of life and what it means to live
The frequent alternative (to pathfinding) is path following. Examples: Following directions on Google Maps, following tutorial step by step on YouTube, asking for then implicitly (attempting to) memorize solutions from ChatGPT, and following your mom’s direction to reach home. These are all forms of “paths” that have been pre-drawn, pre-computed
Pathfinding, in contrast, still involves a goal, but no path is given—it’s up to you to decide, explore, think, and test for. Examples: Trying to reach your friends house by driving with the use of landmarks, using google maps to understand the geography surrounding your destination, attempting different solutions for your problem.
Path finding is encoding world data into your brain—all of us have an idea of how the world works, and path finding means to embed new knowledge into our being as opposed to translating instructions, repeatedly
The effort spent problem solving, or trying things out, or making mistakes are all costs to encoding but they don’t necessarily need to be hard—in fact, when done right or in the right circumstances, the process of encoding is enjoyable; it’s enjoyable to problem solve, to take wrong turns, to study neighbouring ideas. When path finding becomes play is when magic happens (growth)
Next time, try driving to your friend’s home by memory. Open up Google Maps while on a long bus ride home to see what path you’re taking. This is learning, exploration, adventure; another vignette for what it means to live