When I first heard “vibe coding,” I got stuck on a question: What exactly are you vibing with?
The code? The solution? The impact?
It matters. Because the answer reveals what you’re actually doing—and whether “vibe coding” is even the right term.
The Motorcycle Test
I like riding motorcycles. But I’m not vibing with the combustion process inside the engine. I’m not thinking about how the gas fires up the cylinders and makes the bike go.
I’m vibing with this: the wind, the speed, the road, the freedom of movement.
The engine is necessary. But it’s not what makes me vibe.
Same with AI tools and code. The code is the engine. But is that what you’re vibing with?
Guitar Hero vs. Real Guitar
Twenty years ago, a coworker brought Guitar Hero into the office. He said, “Now I know what it feels like to play guitar.”
I showed him my actual guitar. “Are you sure?”
He wasn’t vibing with playing guitar. He was vibing with performing—the sensation of hitting notes in rhythm, seeing the crowd react on screen, feeling like a rock star.
That’s a simulation. It’s entertainment. And that’s fine. But it’s not the same as creating music.
Guitar Hero is vibe performing. You’re pantomiming. You’re not producing anything new.
AI tools are different. When you use AI to build an app, you’re not simulating coding. You’re bypassing the coding to get directly to the solution. You’re not pretending to build something. You’re actually building it.
That’s production, not simulation.
Rick Rubin: The Hero Archetype
Rick Rubin is one of the most influential music producers of all time. You’ve seen the images: headphones on, lying on a couch, eyes closed, listening.
He’s not playing the instruments. He’s not writing the lyrics. He’s not engineering the mix.
But he’s undeniably the author of the final sonic outcome.
He’s vibe producing.
That’s the role AI users are playing. Not fake coders cheating on the curly braces. Real producers directing the outcome.
Rubin doesn’t touch the instruments, but no one questions his contribution. He’s the architect of the vision. The musicians execute it.
That’s the relationship between the vibe solver and the code. You’re the producer. The AI is the session musician.
What Are You Looking At?
Here’s the test: What are you actually looking at when you work?
If you’re watching the code appear—the curly braces, the semicolons, the if blocks—and that’s what’s making you vibe, then yes, you’re vibe coding. You’re learning the craft. You’re studying the syntax. You’re vibing with the code itself.
But if you’re looking at the solution—the interface, the features, the user experience—and you never even glance at the code, then you’re not vibe coding.
You’re vibe solving. You’re vibe producing. You’re vibing with the outcome, not the deeper details of the process.
The Question That Matters
So ask yourself: What am I actually vibing with?
If it’s the code, own that. Learn it. Study it. Vibe code.
If it’s the solution, own that too. You’re not a fake coder. You’re a real producer.
Vibe solving isn’t a consolation prize. It’s a promotion.
You’re Rick Rubin on the couch, directing the vision. The code is just the session work.
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