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> Question everything. Especially things that don't make any sense to you. Don't just assume that someone else knows better - that's how you quickly turn into a

> Question everything. Especially things that don't make any sense to you. Don't just assume that someone else knows better - that's how you quickly turn into a blind follower. That’s what I do by default since I was a kid, and I can tell you the social pressure not to is significant. I recall an interview I did once, and one reason I failed it was "questioning everything". It didn’t even felt like it, I was just asking questions about their system, it’s supposed to be basic curiosity. At my current job there’s this architect that explicitly asked me for continuous feedback, but now shows subtle signs that maybe I went a little too far. Questioning everything gets results, not friends.

Danieru 3y ago
Questioning everything also gets you stuck in bed asking why the sky is a different shade of blue. Others might have accepted the unknown and ate breakfast.
- loup-vaillant 3y ago
  See, that’s the kind of social pressure I was talking about.
  - egwor 3y ago
    And that's probably healthy for society to have a check. If the questions about the sky keep the questioner in bed they might not do the things they need to ensure their continued existence. In one respect that might be food but in a business that would be delivering change or supporting the business. Another example: as a child you understand what + means and take it for granted. As part of Maths undegrad you start understanding the type of operators and the axioms of maths. The child was perfectly find completing maths problems without that depth.
    - Danieru 3y ago
      Ah you went there eh. Yeah an alternative form on my reply would have been to point out that kids are the ones who question everything. Adults learn to identify the questions which will expand knowledge, and ask those.
- signaru 3y ago
  My approach is to just question everything "else" where there is a chance I might be able to do something about it. This is why I'm not popular because I don't have much interesting trivia for party conversations. But I already have come to terms with that. This doesn't help with staying up late though.
- xelxebar 3y ago
  Personally, I find pithy comebacks like this to sound convincing to but to actually be mostly devoid of utility. They tend operate as a sort of social persuasion tool, but I'd like to Get Things Done, which requires deep domain knowledge. One thing I've been noticing with my current clients is the vast amount of churn generated by them only having a patchwork understanding of their overall architecture. Some grok the low-level infra, some the deployment levels, others the backend pieces, and others the frontend stuff. However, since there is no story collecting the pieces into a cohesive whole, we see them treadmilling through different tech stacks in an attempt to gain "velocity". They're definitely running fast; it's just they're not getting anywhere very quickly. It's a pattern I see a lot. On the flipside, when clients have devs who mostly grok the entirety of their system, then we can focus on the questions that really matter: purpose, market fit, empirical evidence from users, _etc._ Questioning things costs time right now, not questioning costs 10 times that in the future.
  - Danieru 3y ago
    > It's a pattern I see a lot. On the flipside, when clients have devs who mostly grok the entirety of their system, then we can focus on the questions that really matter: purpose, market fit, empirical evidence from users, _etc._ So uh, not questioning everything eh... Sounds like you agree with me. That questions should be reserved for the meaningful and insightful.
- csydas 3y ago
  asking why the sky is blue when you don’t know is perfectly fine and even admirable when everyone else seems to know and you don’t. i would expect such a person to at least try some research first and then share what they learned and what questions they still have, but if someone is asking earnestly and i have time, then why shouldn’t i help? i don’t thjnk the logical extreme you position here is correct; if it’s an interest for the person why shouldn’t they pursue it? questioning everything for me is just getting to the point that it’s not magic anymore. i probably don’t need to know the entire kernel code base to figure out why my eth0 won’t stay up. it might help a bit to know some of it if i’m getting weird kernel-ey messages in the logs.
  - Danieru 3y ago
    The question was not "why is the sky blue", but "why is the sky a different shade of blue". Every day the sky will be slightly different. There exists a reason why, and given effort you could identify the differences and relations. Or you could go to work. > It's a pattern I see a lot. On the flipside, when clients have devs who mostly grok the entirety of their system, then we can focus on the questions that really matter: purpose, market fit, empirical evidence from users, _etc._ So... stopping. Not questioning everything eh.
- bakugo 3y ago
  This is exactly the kind of "Sarcastic comment by arrogant developer" that the article mocks.
  - Danieru 3y ago
    Not a drop of sarcasm. Perhaps you should question why you mistook wisdom for comedy?
mordae 3y ago
Avoid architects who are not on pager duty.
mattgreenrocks 3y ago
Subconsciously, I think some people know their system designs can’t hold up to sustained scrutiny. And their technical aesthetic is weak, oftentimes it is a mental symlink to “best practices” and “what HN/X says.” So talking about the way it has grown, and the why, can provoke anxiety. So you end up in this weird place where it feels like there is a big pull to make tech about everything but the mechanics of what you actually do on a day to day basis. Or rather, it’s viewed in a very transactional way: “I learn this skill to get that job.”
Lyngbakr 3y ago
> Questioning everything gets results, not friends. I'd argue that it depends how it's done. I used to work with a brilliant Data Scientist who had a PhD in AI. She asked so many questions — often about fundamentals — that it was like working with the Riddler. She generated a ton of insight as a result and identified missteps before they happened. Despite questioning everything she was arguably the most liked person at the company because of how she approached it. It didn't feel like being grilled, but rather that she was super interested in people and what they were working on. My point is that questioning everything can get results and friends if done correctly.
- auggierose 3y ago
  Not surprised that they are a "she". Guys tend to be more aggressive in their questioning, and guys are also more likely to be considered a rival (to other guys, at least). To make this gender neutral: When questioning, don't be aggressive, and try to obfuscate that you are a potential rival.
deleted 3y ago
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Danieru 3y ago

Questioning everything also gets you stuck in bed asking why the sky is a different shade of blue. Others might have accepted the unknown and ate breakfast.

loup-vaillant 3y ago
See, that’s the kind of social pressure I was talking about.
- egwor 3y ago
  And that's probably healthy for society to have a check. If the questions about the sky keep the questioner in bed they might not do the things they need to ensure their continued existence. In one respect that might be food but in a business that would be delivering change or supporting the business. Another example: as a child you understand what + means and take it for granted. As part of Maths undegrad you start understanding the type of operators and the axioms of maths. The child was perfectly find completing maths problems without that depth.
  - Danieru 3y ago
    Ah you went there eh. Yeah an alternative form on my reply would have been to point out that kids are the ones who question everything. Adults learn to identify the questions which will expand knowledge, and ask those.
signaru 3y ago
My approach is to just question everything "else" where there is a chance I might be able to do something about it. This is why I'm not popular because I don't have much interesting trivia for party conversations. But I already have come to terms with that. This doesn't help with staying up late though.
xelxebar 3y ago
Personally, I find pithy comebacks like this to sound convincing to but to actually be mostly devoid of utility. They tend operate as a sort of social persuasion tool, but I'd like to Get Things Done, which requires deep domain knowledge. One thing I've been noticing with my current clients is the vast amount of churn generated by them only having a patchwork understanding of their overall architecture. Some grok the low-level infra, some the deployment levels, others the backend pieces, and others the frontend stuff. However, since there is no story collecting the pieces into a cohesive whole, we see them treadmilling through different tech stacks in an attempt to gain "velocity". They're definitely running fast; it's just they're not getting anywhere very quickly. It's a pattern I see a lot. On the flipside, when clients have devs who mostly grok the entirety of their system, then we can focus on the questions that really matter: purpose, market fit, empirical evidence from users, _etc._ Questioning things costs time right now, not questioning costs 10 times that in the future.
- Danieru 3y ago
  > It's a pattern I see a lot. On the flipside, when clients have devs who mostly grok the entirety of their system, then we can focus on the questions that really matter: purpose, market fit, empirical evidence from users, _etc._ So uh, not questioning everything eh... Sounds like you agree with me. That questions should be reserved for the meaningful and insightful.
csydas 3y ago
asking why the sky is blue when you don’t know is perfectly fine and even admirable when everyone else seems to know and you don’t. i would expect such a person to at least try some research first and then share what they learned and what questions they still have, but if someone is asking earnestly and i have time, then why shouldn’t i help? i don’t thjnk the logical extreme you position here is correct; if it’s an interest for the person why shouldn’t they pursue it? questioning everything for me is just getting to the point that it’s not magic anymore. i probably don’t need to know the entire kernel code base to figure out why my eth0 won’t stay up. it might help a bit to know some of it if i’m getting weird kernel-ey messages in the logs.
- Danieru 3y ago
  The question was not "why is the sky blue", but "why is the sky a different shade of blue". Every day the sky will be slightly different. There exists a reason why, and given effort you could identify the differences and relations. Or you could go to work. > It's a pattern I see a lot. On the flipside, when clients have devs who mostly grok the entirety of their system, then we can focus on the questions that really matter: purpose, market fit, empirical evidence from users, _etc._ So... stopping. Not questioning everything eh.
bakugo 3y ago
This is exactly the kind of "Sarcastic comment by arrogant developer" that the article mocks.
- Danieru 3y ago
  Not a drop of sarcasm. Perhaps you should question why you mistook wisdom for comedy?

mordae 3y ago

Avoid architects who are not on pager duty.

mattgreenrocks 3y ago

Subconsciously, I think some people know their system designs can’t hold up to sustained scrutiny. And their technical aesthetic is weak, oftentimes it is a mental symlink to “best practices” and “what HN/X says.” So talking about the way it has grown, and the why, can provoke anxiety. So you end up in this weird place where it feels like there is a big pull to make tech about everything but the mechanics of what you actually do on a day to day basis. Or rather, it’s viewed in a very transactional way: “I learn this skill to get that job.”

Lyngbakr 3y ago

> Questioning everything gets results, not friends. I'd argue that it depends how it's done. I used to work with a brilliant Data Scientist who had a PhD in AI. She asked so many questions — often about fundamentals — that it was like working with the Riddler. She generated a ton of insight as a result and identified missteps before they happened. Despite questioning everything she was arguably the most liked person at the company because of how she approached it. It didn't feel like being grilled, but rather that she was super interested in people and what they were working on. My point is that questioning everything can get results and friends if done correctly.

auggierose 3y ago
Not surprised that they are a "she". Guys tend to be more aggressive in their questioning, and guys are also more likely to be considered a rival (to other guys, at least). To make this gender neutral: When questioning, don't be aggressive, and try to obfuscate that you are a potential rival.

deleted 3y ago

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