The Hot Stove Theory of Iteration is the idea that a team gets their best, most raw, most unfiltered feedback by making large changes and pushing them straight to production for users to test. Usually these updates result in quick backlash from users, which result in yet another change. The process is repeated until a satisfaction steady-state is reached.

The name comes from the adage that, supposedly, "if a cat sits on a hot stove, that cat won't sit on a hot stove again". It is also a parody of the 'mad scientist' theory that the Manifold team likes to talk about.

I do not know if the Manifold team will ever hang a poster about 'Hot Stove Theory' in their office, but if they do, I hope it serves as a reminder not to push changes straight to production.

When someone has the freedom to pick what they think is most important to work on, and push it to production, without restriction, you get chaos. Touching a hot stove is one way to quickly cut through any chaos that might be clouding your judgement.

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Thanks for reading. I will resolve this to YES if someone at least as important as Scott Alexander (according to my judgment) references "The Hot Stove Theory of Iteration" in either a positive or negative light before 2030.