I think it all depends on what the goal is. For tractable, straightforward, or routine software development, this seems very true. For middling-difficulty, thi

I think it all depends on what the goal is. For tractable, straightforward, or routine software development, this seems very true. For middling-difficulty, this seems often true. It's more just the edge cases - problems requiring a lot of creative thought or unique problem-solving tactics - where it seems like getting software developers to "believe" would be a huge boon. Just as curiosity is a large multiplier to learning, genuine interest is a large multiplier on difficult mental work. As a side note, offering "interesting" and "meaningful" work can be seen as another perk of a job listing (just like other optional benefits), especially to young or idealistic devs.