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I can’t believe such over generalized garbage is upvoted on HN. Everyone’s job is different, everyone is different. There are productive engineers who are intr

by isatty 5y ago

I can’t believe such over generalized garbage is upvoted on HN. Everyone’s job is different, everyone is different. There are productive engineers who are introverts and there are productive engineers who are extroverts. Making jokes in the office and having conversations does not take time away from doing good work - no dev is productive 100% of the time. Humans are social animals, and working _with_ someone is important. I don’t care if that interaction is over chat or in person but this idea that people are productive in isolation needs to die. This is especially applicable to new hires. The most productive engineers you talked about have habits and work they do that cannot be taught over chat or VC. It just doesn’t work that way.

chii 5y ago
> everyone is different. and yet, you assert > Humans are social animals, and working _with_ someone is important. The most productive engineers are all different. But empirical evidence has suggested that those who are _the most productive_, such as people like Carmack, are productive in isolation (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16518726 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16518726 about his programming vacations). Of course, i don't deny there are productive engineers who do their most productive work in a group setting. But i would also not want anyone to assert that social interaction is required for it.
- baby 5y ago
  That’s awesome to read. I remember taking half a week before going to black hat in las vegas, and staying alone is some off the strip hotel. The amount of work I would crush was absurd, managed to finish a bunch of projects. I really miss these opportunities to spend a week somewhere else alone to have time to focus on what I want.
Mordisquitos 5y ago
> Everyone’s job is different, everyone is different. There are productive engineers who are introverts and there are productive engineers who are extroverts. Making jokes in the office and having conversations does not take time away from doing good work - no dev is productive 100% of the time. I would go even further than that in your criticism of the overgeneralisation: there are engineers who are introverts and want to go back to the office. I'm sure this is very dependant on the local or office culture, but introverts can very much miss social contact in the office as well.
nodejs_rulez_1 5y ago
Extraverted engineers tend to not give others an option to be introverted. "We only do pair programming and TDD at our company" and other insanity.
dang 5y ago
> I can’t believe such over generalized garbage is upvoted on HN. "When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. 'That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3' can be shortened to '1 + 1 is 2, not 3." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

by isatty 5y ago

chii 5y ago

> everyone is different. and yet, you assert > Humans are social animals, and working _with_ someone is important. The most productive engineers are all different. But empirical evidence has suggested that those who are _the most productive_, such as people like Carmack, are productive in isolation (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16518726 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16518726 about his programming vacations). Of course, i don't deny there are productive engineers who do their most productive work in a group setting. But i would also not want anyone to assert that social interaction is required for it.

baby 5y ago
That’s awesome to read. I remember taking half a week before going to black hat in las vegas, and staying alone is some off the strip hotel. The amount of work I would crush was absurd, managed to finish a bunch of projects. I really miss these opportunities to spend a week somewhere else alone to have time to focus on what I want.

Mordisquitos 5y ago

> Everyone’s job is different, everyone is different. There are productive engineers who are introverts and there are productive engineers who are extroverts. Making jokes in the office and having conversations does not take time away from doing good work - no dev is productive 100% of the time. I would go even further than that in your criticism of the overgeneralisation: there are engineers who are introverts and want to go back to the office. I'm sure this is very dependant on the local or office culture, but introverts can very much miss social contact in the office as well.

nodejs_rulez_1 5y ago

Extraverted engineers tend to not give others an option to be introverted. "We only do pair programming and TDD at our company" and other insanity.

dang 5y ago

> I can’t believe such over generalized garbage is upvoted on HN. "When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. 'That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3' can be shortened to '1 + 1 is 2, not 3." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html