In this comment thread there are some lovely reflections on human nature, how it manifests in technology development, etc. I had a thought recently, and this m

In this comment thread there are some lovely reflections on human nature, how it manifests in technology development, etc. I had a thought recently, and this might be a place to share it that others might enjoy. Pair programming is like nuclear fusion. There is the force of electromagnetism that causes nuclei to repel each other. Natural social awkwardness, fragile egos, conflict aversion and other similar issues cause programmers to resist pairing. Under the right conditions of heat and pressure the electro-magnetic force can be overcome, nuclei get close enough to each other, the strong nuclear force takes over, and the nuclei fuse. For programmers, when pairing starts to work well, a sort of flow state can emerge involving multiple people. Ideas start to spark back and forth, idea ignition happens, and somehow the collaboration goes to a new place that would have been entirely inaccessible to each person individually.