Hannah Arendt, in 1958, punches out the “pure idea man” concept .
Thinking, however, which is presumably ‘the activity of the head, though it is in some way like laboring—also a process which probably comes to an end only with life itself—is even less “productive” than labor; if labor leaves no permanent trace, thinking leaves nothing tangible at all. By itself,
thinking never materializes into any objects. Whenever the intellectual worker wishes to manifest his thoughts, he must use his hands and acquire manual skills just like any other worker. In other words, thinking and working are two different activities which never quite coincide; the thinker who wants the world to know the “content” of his thoughts must first of all stop thinking and remember his thoughts. Remembrance in this, as in all other cases, prepares the intangible and the futile for their eventual materialization; it is the beginning of the work process, and like the
craftsman’s consideration of the model which will guide his work, its most immaterial stage.
The “punch up my app ideas” people in 2010 really needed to read this.