React Myths That Just Won't Die

Ask any LLM to write a hook that returns a function and it'll wrap it in useCallback . Ask for a component with state that depends on other state and you'll get a useEffect managing it. The code looks professional and reads cleanly. It's also quietly wrong. LLMs learned from the same sources we did: Stack Overflow answers from 2019, tutorials that predated the hooks docs. They reproduce those patterns with complete confidence, at scale. Mental models have always spread faster than documentation, and now they spread faster than ever. React didn't help either. Class components had lifecycle methods, hooks replaced that model, concurrent features changed some assumptions again — and now "where should I put state?" reads like a philosophy essay. Simplified mental models fill that gap, not accurate but stable enough to build habits on. Developers aren't being careless. The models just happen to be convenient to think with . They generate plausible predictions often enough to feel reliable.