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> The universe is so structured that most programmers find themselves solving problems of exactly that complexity which it is just barely within their competenc
by lhnz 10y ago
> The universe is so structured that most programmers find themselves solving problems of exactly that complexity which it is just barely within their competency to solve. In other words they feel as if they’re solving quite difficult problems a lot of the time. Hence they feel very smart.
I don't know about other's here, but this is the opposite of my experience. I feel under-employed because I'm constantly solving problems which are way below my competency. (That's not to say that I'm smart; just that the kind of work most people have to work on is insanely easy, and many probably feel 'above it'.)
When I get angry it's almost always because I'm bored out of my skull, and need to take a break to do something creative or intellectually surprising. The original post seems to pin anger on jealousy and not boredom. And at any rate, whether or not you are angry because you are jealous or because you are bored, the solution is to take a break.
> In fact, sometimes they may get the feeling that someone who doesn’t program at all, could readily do it if they were bothered, but since they can get other people to do it for them, consider the whole thing a little trivial.
This is arrogant. There are a lot of people that can avoid programming, but a majority of these people wouldn't find it trivially easy. It's a skill set which actually takes quite a long time to build up, and having good people managing skills isn't likely to help.
All I can really say after reading this, is: generalising other people's psychology, choice of work, and perceptions about their work isn't a good way of understanding them or working with them. The fact that this person decided to make a blog post of it as if it was a clever way of understanding 90% of programmers is just an embarrassing reflection of themselves.
- OJFord 10y agoIt's not arrogant, quite the opposite; given your opinion on the feasibility of "easy if you can be bothered" it's overly modest.
- lhnz 10y agoIt's definitely arrogant. I don't walk around telling people that I could do their job easily and only avoid it because it bores me. That's pure arrogance. It takes time to learn to do something well. I know if I sat down and tried to architect the design for a house I'd be able to do it -- eventually --, but this doesn't mean I will write an article about how it's trivial work and that the only reason I will pay somebody to do it is because I "can't be bothered". Not insulting people is a basic level of respect, that I believe you should go way beyond.
- nothrabannosir 10y agoHe's talking about himself.
- alexandercrohde 10y agoUh, the article starts with the claim that 90% of programmers are "angry programmers," so I don't think you can claim he's only talking about himself.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- OJFord 10y agoHe's saying that it's depressing to think that others think his own job is trivial or boring; not that he thinks that.
- gonzo41 10y agoYou and me have the same job, I don't get angry i have episodes of depression as a result.
- lhnz 10y agoI actually generally get depressed instead of angry, too... So I was writing about this from a perspective closer to yours, and not of an 'angry developer'. (I'd normally send a smiley emoji here but it feels wrong.)
- scandox 10y agoIt is truly a self character assassination, but I'm not embarrassed. We all have many moods and phases. This was merely intended as a sketch of a mood many programmers may pass through...
- lhnz 10y agoDon't take it the wrong way, I was only skewering it because I thought it kind of erased 'bored therefore angry (or depressive)' developers and because I think 'work is often dull but the people that do it should still be respected.' I thought it was a kind of understanding which attempts to contain everybody within a single category and then to belittle them.
- scandox 10y agoAbsolutely no problem. I try at all times to take the best interpretation of people's comments. I can see your POV.
- matwood 10y ago> I feel under-employed because I'm constantly solving problems which are way below my competency. (That's not to say that I'm smart; just that the kind of work most people have to work on is insanely easy, and many probably feel 'above it'.) This leads to injecting tool complexity. The JS world is a good example where it seems sometimes people are bored so they inject tool complexity in order to not be bored.
- javier2 10y agoHeh. As a dude who makes his daily grind with java, I am convinced this is what happened with java from 2001-2010...