I would say that mediocrity is okay as long as you don't force others to follow it. Sometimes I feel as if there is some sort of "militant mediocrity" happening

I would say that mediocrity is okay as long as you don't force others to follow it. Sometimes I feel as if there is some sort of "militant mediocrity" happening in some corners of our profession, where anyone even remotely interested in digging one layer down is not only looked down as not being enlightened enough, but also committing a capital sins of acting against the business interests and walking outside the predetermined boundaries of their programming-caste. Cue horror stories of cowboy coders and NIH.