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My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

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Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#141

Post by protomyth »

edw519 wrote: post #36

Condescending feedback says more about the speaker than the listener. It is almost invariably about their own insecurity. This is true is almost all fields of endeavor, not just programming. Just a few examples of my own: Insecure bridge player: The queen of spades was a stupid play. What's wrong with you? Excellent bridge player: The queen of spades would have been a great play against a 4/2 split. But since you had…

I would say that some fields use it as a tool to weed out those that cannot act under pressure. There are some activities in life where if you cannot deal with condescending feedback then you probably cannot work in the field at all.

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#142

Post by gaius »

edw519 wrote: post #36

Condescending feedback says more about the speaker than the listener. It is almost invariably about their own insecurity. This is true is almost all fields of endeavor, not just programming. Just a few examples of my own: Insecure bridge player: The queen of spades was a stupid play. What's wrong with you? Excellent bridge player: The queen of spades would have been a great play against a 4/2 split. But since you had…

A tablespoon of whisky in their milk, that usually does the trick.

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#143

Post by HSO »

edw519 wrote: post #36

Condescending feedback says more about the speaker than the listener. It is almost invariably about their own insecurity. This is true is almost all fields of endeavor, not just programming. Just a few examples of my own: Insecure bridge player: The queen of spades was a stupid play. What's wrong with you? Excellent bridge player: The queen of spades would have been a great play against a 4/2 split. But since you had…

judging from media reports/biographies, a lot of our "tech heroes" would then have counted as "insecure"?! don't know about that.

i've gotten to know some people who i consider brilliant or at least very, very good at what they do and, judging from my own small sample, they've been all over the place in terms of manners/considerateness. i don't think this is a valid classification scheme...

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#144

Post by pyre »

mgns wrote: post #128
nerfhammer wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So all we have to do it just wait a few generations, and...

Hopefully just one generation as being an ass may stop them from getting along with the opposite sex and reproduce...

On the other hand, that may be the cause instead of a side-effect, at least in a number of cases. (e.g. "You need to get laid, bro")

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#145

Post by ilovecomputers »

That's it, I'm admitting it.

"Tom, no, not among the hall of nerds."

No, it's the best time. Everyone, I have an announcement to make! I...am kind of like a hipster.

reveals fedora hat and threadless shirt

>

No longer will I be prosecuted for enjoying a cultural product that is making it's first appearance in the cultural scene.

I also speak for every newbie who dislikes dealing with the console and I speak for every newbie who doesn't posses the skills of a sysadmin, but wants to understand their way around unix. I also speak for every CS major who thinks caustic arguments, over which programming language sucks, are a waste of time.

And yes, I am currently learning Haskell, not because it is underground but because I enjoy recursively declaring functions. Now who here will help me understand side effects?

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#146

Post by timknauf »

HSO wrote: post #143
edw519 wrote: post #36

Condescending feedback says more about the speaker than the listener. It is almost invariably about their own insecurity. This is true is almost all fields of endeavor, not just programming. Just a few examples of my own: Insecure bridge player: The queen of spades was a stupid play. What's wrong with you? Excellent bridge player: The queen of spades would have been a great play against a 4/2 split. But since you had…

judging from media reports/biographies, a lot of our "tech heroes" would then have counted as "insecure"?! don't know about that. i've gotten to know some people who i consider brilliant or at least very, very good at what they do and, judging from my own small sample, they've been all over the place in terms of manners/considerateness. i don't think this is a valid classification scheme...

You can be very, very good at what you do and still be insecure.

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#147

Post by georgieporgie »

jhamburger wrote: post #65

If we were to generalize and put nerds into three broad categories- 1. Lower-case 'n' nerds for whom coding is as much of a day job as it possibly can be and lead rewarding and socially active lives away from their computers. 2. Nerds who are completely immersed in what they do because they find it to be rewarding in and of itself. 3. Nerds who are completely immersed in what they do because they aren't very good at…

I think one and two overlap.

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#149

Post by nmaio »

Alex3917 wrote: post #105
nhangen wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That comment: "The problem is that when people start mouthing off about factual issues they don't know anything about they can cause a lot of damage, so crushing them is often a necessity." Is exactly the type of thing that comes from the hive mind, and is why it's impossible to be a dissenter. It's usually "you don't know what you are talking about," followed by bashing until the person takes their ball and goes hom…

"...bashing until the person takes their ball and goes home." And that's often a good outcome. Consider for example this article published recently by a Connecticut state senator on why she wants to put people in jail for having 'fake weed'. http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/fake-pot-a-new-threat-to... The entire article was riddled with sloppy thinking, and thoroughly plagiarized, so I got all of reddit to utterly…

I'm probably in the minority with this, but...

If someone's ignorance cannot be altered or at least reasonably discussed, I think that's perfectly okay. That just means it's time for me to move on.

I don't see how attacking or embarrassing someone would make you feel better about your side of things. I'd much rather let that person enjoy their own ignorance.

Note: I tend to lack/block out very strong emotions

Re: My fellow geeks, we need to have a talk.

#150

Post by cakeface »

mgns wrote: post #128
nerfhammer wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So all we have to do it just wait a few generations, and...

Hopefully just one generation as being an ass may stop them from getting along with the opposite sex and reproduce...

Unfortunately being an ass is frequently a great way to get laid. Nice guys finish last and all...
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