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The cognitive dissonance pyramid: one hell of a drug.

We are all wrong from time to time, it's part of the human condition. Even smart people can be wrong. True wisdom is being able to admit you were wrong, and then actually change your mind. However, that is very difficult and mentally painful. Many people avoid it

Dear software testers, is your critical thinking ability even alive?!

First, there was test automation. People who were not particularly blessed on the critical thinking (and intelligence) front thought this would solve the pesky testing problem, once and for all. Manual testing would no longer be needed. There was lots of talk about the ROI of test automation as a

My future tech utopia

This is how I would like to interact with technology. It’s a mix of oldskool with a sprinkle of tech that does not yet exist. It's a utopia, so it's not realistic. Don't come at me in the comments with "trololo this

"You still look feminine", is not the compliment you think it is

Let's talk about the female body. The female body is not allowed to just exist without garnering opinions from others. Surprisingly, not only from men. Women also love to comment on other women's bodies. Men love to comment on women's bodies to project their

The secret fifth level of testing

The following drawing was the inspiration for my Testing RPG talk. Excuse its quality, I have never left the "drawing people as figure sticks like a toddler"-stage. I have contemplated recording the Testing RPG talk and putting it out there for everyone to see, but I share

What if, as a testing community, we’ve been hung up about the wrong thing all this time

Does 2025 Maaike agree with what 2021 Maaike wrote? I found the following in my Apple Notes just now. Read it, and then I'll tell you whether I still agree with my thoughts from 4 years prior. Spoiler: it gets very real! Lots of curse words! I'

The paradox of being a decent person

Everybody thinks they're a better than average driver, and everybody thinks they are a decent person. I too, would like to think that I'm a decent person. If you think I'm an awful person, you might not like reading this post because it'

Neutral Quality is too much to ask for, shitty software is the norm.

As a testing community, we have failed to make software better. And let me be clear, developers have also failed. We are in the same boat here. I firmly believe that most people working in software development teams are trying their best to create a better software product, write readable

Current rotation of notebooks <3

The world may go to shit, but at least I have my lovely notebooks. Do I use handwriting as a way of coping? Hell yeah! My next two blog posts will most likely be serious or rant-y in nature, so why not have an intermission post with an innocent topic?

The great game of pretend

When I wrote and published "Why Working Isn't Working for Me" last Monday, I received some direct messages from people who agreed with me, but who didn't dare to admit to it in public because they feared that they would become unemployable by saying

Why working doesn't work for me

I'm usually unhappy at work, and the unhappiness stems from the way I perceive work. It has very little to do with the actual contents of the work. Believe me, I've tried to work at different roles, different companies, in totally different fields, and it doesn&

Obscure music you haven’t heard before

Happy new year! To prove that I’m more cvlt than you, here are some obscure songs you haven’t heard before. Die Verbannten Kinder Evas - Winters Night Genre: Darkwave Puissance - Brittle Genre: Neoclassical industrial (told you I’m cvlt as fuck) Summoning - Our Foes Shall Fall

The year in review: 2024 at work

In the year 2023, I earned a whopping €5000. I obviously wasn't working in tech at the time. No, I was trying to make my other company a success. I run a coaching company called Live Sensibly, where I help people with their lifestyle (nutrition & strength training)

2024 in review, photo-edition

December, the month to do all sorts of reflections and exercises in thankfulness. The year wasn't extraordinarily busy, just as I like it. I spent my time wisely, and didn't travel a lot. Let's go over the year with some photos! In the beginning