For sake of argument though, can we assume all “old” programmers in this case are ones that have been doing this a long time and are actually competent? I’m not

For sake of argument though, can we assume all “old” programmers in this case are ones that have been doing this a long time and are actually competent? I’m not disagreeing with you, but I know those are in the minority of us “old” programmers. “Old” vs “Young” can be a measure of experience.