Intro: The Vim Philosophy

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 - Intro: [First steps](README.md#first-steps)
 - Intro: [What kind of Vim am I running?](README.md#what-kind-of-vim-am-i-running)
 - Intro: [Cheatsheets](README.md#cheatsheets)
+- Intro: [The Vim Philosphy](README.md#the-vim-philosophy)
 - Basics: [Marks?](README.md#marks)
 - Basics: [Changelist?](README.md#changelist)
 - Basics: [Changelist? Jumplist?](README.md#changelist-jumplist)
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 - Usage: [Editing remote files](README.md#editing-remote-files)
 - Usage: [Restore cursor position when opening file](README.md#restore-cursor-position-when-opening-file)
 - Usage: [Handling backup, swap, undo, and viminfo files](README.md#handling-backup-swap-undo-and-viminfo-files)
-- Usage: [Running external programs and using filters](#running-external-programs-and-using-filters)
+- Usage: [Running external programs and using filters](README.md#running-external-programs-and-using-filters)
 - Usage: [MatchIt](README.md#matchit)
 - Debugging: [Verbosity](README.md#verbosity)
 - Debugging: [Debugging Vim scripts](README.md#debugging-vim-scripts)

README.md

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ added every day. Things about to be added can be found here:
 #### [Intro](#intro-1)
 
 - [What is Vim?](#what-is-vim)
+- [The Vim Philosphy](#the-vim-philosophy)
 - [First steps](#first-steps)
 - [What kind of Vim am I running?](#what-kind-of-vim-am-i-running)
 - [Cheatsheets](#cheatsheets)
@@ -141,6 +142,32 @@ Read [Why, oh WHY, do those #?@! nutheads use
 vi?](http://www.viemu.com/a-why-vi-vim.html) to see common misconceptions about
 Vim explained.
 
+#### The Vim Philosophy
+
+Vim adheres to the modal editing philosophy. This means that it provides
+multiple modes and the meaning of keys changes according to the mode. You
+navigate files in _normal mode_, you insert text in _insert mode_, you select
+lines in _visual mode_, you access commands in _command-line mode_ and so on.
+This might sound complicated at first, but has a huge advantage: you don't have
+to break your fingers by holding several keys at once, most of the time you
+simply press them one after the other. The more common the task, the fewer keys
+are needed.
+
+A related concept that works well with modal editing are operators and motions.
+_Operators_ start a certain action, e.g. changing, removing, or selecting text.
+Afterwards you specify the region of text you want to act on using a _motion_.
+To change everything between parentheses, use `ci(` (read _change inner
+parentheses_). To remove an entire paragraph of text, use `dap` (read _delete
+around paragraph_).
+
+If you see advanced Vim users working, you'll notice that they speak the
+_language of Vim_ as well as pianists handle their instruments. Complex
+operations are done using only a few key presses. They don't even think about it
+anymore as [muscle memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_memory) took
+over already. This reduces [cognitive
+load](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_load) and helps focusing on the
+actual task.
+
 #### First steps
 
 Vim comes bundled with an interactive tutorial that teaches the most basic