Two really basic flaws in the logic here. > As my Aïkido professor says, the more you practice, the better you get … Oh, sure, because every Aikido practicion

Two really basic flaws in the logic here. > As my Aïkido professor says, the more you practice, the better you get … Oh, sure, because every Aikido practicioner who has practiced the same number of hours has the same ranking. (That's sarcasm, btw...) > Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that 40h per week is the most productive work load [...] But then, how do passionate people manage to remain productive when working more than 40 hours per week ? I don't know what studies you're quoting, but this just makes no sense. For the same work output over longer time, you will have more productivity. The trick is keeping up the pace. At the same time, there is absolutely no evidence that "passionate" programmers are more productive for the same amount of time than "non-passionate" programmers. And yes, you need time out of the box to make out-of-the-box solutions. Archimedes' bathtub, Newton's apple, the Apple Computer's fonts, ...... you really have to get the hell out of the office once in a while.