Principle of Least Yak-Shaving
Thanks to a tweet yesterday, the concept of yak shaving has been running through my mind. The Jargon File gives this definition of the term:
yak shaving: [MIT AI Lab, after 2000: orig. probably from a Ren & Stimpy episode.] Any seemingly pointless activity which is actually necessary to solve a problem which solves a problem which, several levels of recursion later, solves the real problem you’re working on.