---
status: FINAL — Bruce's voice, paradigm-shift framing
target: LinkedIn
tags_to_use: Drew Breunig (@drewbreunig)
---

Thank you @Drew Breunig — your recent YouTube video directly inspired what I'm releasing today.

Your Spec-Driven Development Triangle and Plumb tool asked the right question: how do we keep specs, tests, and code in sync? But I wanted to add one more question. Why? Why does this code exist? What's its PURPOSE? Trillions of lines of code every day, and yet, why do I think that's all insufficient?

Someone smart once said we now have a text box of infinite potential and no idea what to type into it. I think that's because we've been asking the wrong question. We ask "what should I build?" when we should ask "what would make my life better?"

Teleological Hedonic Optimization is a mouthful. But it really boils down to this: man's search for happiness. And that search should be in the specs. It should be in the tests. It should be in every codebase, every policy, every decision.

TDD asks "does it work?"
HDD asks "does it matter?"

Employed Americans spend 45.8% of their day on MEANS — working, commuting, housework. Only 20.5% on ENDS — the parts that actually feel like living. I built a framework to fix that ratio. For you. Personally.

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Introducing Hedonics Driven Development (HDD). It starts where SDD starts — specs, tests, code — and adds one word to each: Hedonic Specs. Hedonic Tests. Hedonic Code. And then one node SDD never had: Hedonic Outcomes. Because the code isn't done when the tests pass. It's done when someone's life improves.

Five open-source tools that measure what matters.

GitHub: github.com/altpath-ai/highnoon

Each works as a CLI, an MCP server (add to Claude/GPT/Cursor), and a Python library.

pip install hedonics      # What Hedonics are we optimizing?
pip install altpath       # What Hedonics are important to ME?
pip install highnoon      # Tag software by Hedonic Teleology classifications
pip install mainstreet    # How does this policy improve individuals' hedonic experience?
pip install frontpage     # My personal newsfeed based on my hedonic calculus

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The framework measures your life across 10 hedonic domains — Nourishment, Shelter, Health, Care, Mobility, Growth, Connection, Recreation, Expression, Meaning — and 9 fungible cost categories that block access to those domains.

Then it computes how to trade what you HAVE for what you NEED. That's the fungibility calculus. You have money but no time? Trade money for time. You have knowledge but no attention? Knowledge reduces cognitive load. Every exchange unlocks a door to something that actually matters to you.

Your best life isn't hidden. It's locked. Behind costs you can see but haven't named. HDD names them, measures them, and finds the keys.

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All five packages are live on PyPI and GitHub. Open for stars, issues, PRs, and discussion.

GitHub: github.com/altpath-ai/highnoon
Website: altpath.ai

#opensource #hedonics #mcp #python #publicpolicy #wellbeing #altpath #HDD
