Object-Oriented vs Functional: Why Your Ego Needs Refactoring

**TL;DR:** Your ego operates like rigid OOP code – it bundles data (beliefs about yourself) with methods (behavioral patterns) and resists change. Functional programming offers a better mental model: treat each situation as a pure function with no baggage from previous states.

I’ve been thinking about how programming paradigms map to psychology, and there’s a fascinating parallel between object-oriented programming and how our egos work.

**The Problem with Mental „Objects“:**
Just like OOP objects, your ego:
– Bundles data with behavior (`self.beliefs = {„smart“: true, „programmer“: true}`)
– Maintains state across method calls
– Resists refactoring because it wants to preserve its properties
– Creates defensive methods to protect its internal state

**The Functional Alternative:**
Instead of storing fixed beliefs about yourself, what if you approached identity functionally?
– Pure functions: same input → same output, no side effects
– No stored state about „who you are“
– Each situation gets processed fresh without ego baggage
– More adaptable: `hasLearnedConcept(math)` vs `self.isMathPerson = false`