I'd go full-on on your theory and propose that the love of diligence is the result of some internal psychological peculiarity of people. I feel like you're alluding to this, but just not saying it out loud (or I'm projecting my thoughts on your writing way too much 😄). Literally there's a type of neuro divergence that makes people overindex on diligence and observance of details rather than the (at least theoretically) evolutionary beneficial outcome focused approach that cares about getting it done, not getting it done good.
For a long time religion was what offered an outlet for that need. Also art or crafts, but they just all ended up under the umbrella of religion in some way as you mention. The enlightenment offered an alternative with science which lacked the requirement of a divine being, but ultimately still relied heavily on the diligence part and doing things for the sake of doing them, rather then for the "practical use".
Software then feels like the next step in this. It's more accessible than science, easier to start with and with much more positive economic prospects (at least until somewhat recently).
CC: @iris_meredith@mastodon.social
For a long time religion was what offered an outlet for that need. Also art or crafts, but they just all ended up under the umbrella of religion in some way as you mention. The enlightenment offered an alternative with science which lacked the requirement of a divine being, but ultimately still relied heavily on the diligence part and doing things for the sake of doing them, rather then for the "practical use".
Software then feels like the next step in this. It's more accessible than science, easier to start with and with much more positive economic prospects (at least until somewhat recently).
CC: @iris_meredith@mastodon.social