4 ms·

Possible explanation: swearing is more likely to be committed into code by people who either (1) own the code, or (2) know they're too valuable to be punished.

Possible explanation: swearing is more likely to be committed into code by people who either (1) own the code, or (2) know they're too valuable to be punished. So it self-selects. I personally have very different commenting styles between my work and personal projects. Not that any of it's good.

moffkalast 3y ago
Possible explanation: The code for the fast inv sqrt is copy pasted everywhere and is skewing the results.
atleastoptimal 3y ago
Imo, it's because swearing indicates frustration, and frustration indicates effort.
- throwaway8689 3y ago
  So I need to use more profanity at work, then ask for a raise? (But I concede that effort and productivity are not the same thing.)
- hinkley 3y ago
  Or as Good to Great calls it, "Confronting the brutal facts". "This is bullshit" is an important realization. If you can't say it, then things will stay miserable.
monksy 3y ago
Alternative explanation in the same vane as your theory: The cognitive and time cost of compliance for language policing takes away from valuable programming and planning involved in developing solutions. (i.e. "banned words" [swear words] and politicalized words [whitelist/blacklist,etc]) Antoher possibility is the people who don't want to deal with that are gone and we're seeing a loss of their contributions.
- Forgeties79 3y ago
  That’s a pretty big leap IMO. What gives you that impression?
  - blarghyblarg 3y ago
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042810021725 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281... It's really not a big leap, though. People who are afraid of violating a code of conduct because they're "under the watch of language police" are basically experiencing a form of anxiety that may or may not have a basis in reality. Being afraid of being sent to the HR DEI board because you named a process 'Child1' then ran Kill(Child1) ... or any less obvious scenario similar to that ... is not going to do great things to your ability to work.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - Forgeties79 3y ago
      This tells me more about the impacts of anxiety writ large than it highlights the problem of “language policing.”
      - blarghyblarg 3y ago
        "Oh, THEY are policing my language. THEY are watching everything I say!" You're reading the idea of language policing as some actual thing, like people are hanging over someone watching every word they say. It certainly might be true in some offices or with some coworkers, but, I'm pretty sure feeling that your every word is policed is closer to a form of anxiety than an actual problem in most offices. Or, your coworkers are basically bullying you over minor nitpicks, which will keep you in a state of mild anxiety. Either way, having to monitor your every word is definitely closer to being anxious than not, and is definitely going to have some impact on your performance.
        3y ago
NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
God save me from working somewhere that I could be punished for code comments. Who's the narc on your team that would even point it out? It's not like HR has some commit hook on the repos filtering for this stuff...

moffkalast 3y ago

Possible explanation: The code for the fast inv sqrt is copy pasted everywhere and is skewing the results.

atleastoptimal 3y ago

Imo, it's because swearing indicates frustration, and frustration indicates effort.

throwaway8689 3y ago
So I need to use more profanity at work, then ask for a raise? (But I concede that effort and productivity are not the same thing.)
hinkley 3y ago
Or as Good to Great calls it, "Confronting the brutal facts". "This is bullshit" is an important realization. If you can't say it, then things will stay miserable.

monksy 3y ago

Alternative explanation in the same vane as your theory: The cognitive and time cost of compliance for language policing takes away from valuable programming and planning involved in developing solutions. (i.e. "banned words" [swear words] and politicalized words [whitelist/blacklist,etc]) Antoher possibility is the people who don't want to deal with that are gone and we're seeing a loss of their contributions.

Forgeties79 3y ago
That’s a pretty big leap IMO. What gives you that impression?
- blarghyblarg 3y ago
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042810021725 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281... It's really not a big leap, though. People who are afraid of violating a code of conduct because they're "under the watch of language police" are basically experiencing a form of anxiety that may or may not have a basis in reality. Being afraid of being sent to the HR DEI board because you named a process 'Child1' then ran Kill(Child1) ... or any less obvious scenario similar to that ... is not going to do great things to your ability to work.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - Forgeties79 3y ago
    This tells me more about the impacts of anxiety writ large than it highlights the problem of “language policing.”
    - blarghyblarg 3y ago
      "Oh, THEY are policing my language. THEY are watching everything I say!" You're reading the idea of language policing as some actual thing, like people are hanging over someone watching every word they say. It certainly might be true in some offices or with some coworkers, but, I'm pretty sure feeling that your every word is policed is closer to a form of anxiety than an actual problem in most offices. Or, your coworkers are basically bullying you over minor nitpicks, which will keep you in a state of mild anxiety. Either way, having to monitor your every word is definitely closer to being anxious than not, and is definitely going to have some impact on your performance.
      - 3y ago

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

God save me from working somewhere that I could be punished for code comments. Who's the narc on your team that would even point it out? It's not like HR has some commit hook on the repos filtering for this stuff...