Several years back I posted several essays critical of the NoSQL euphoria. Being in my 30s, I wasn't surprised to see several argue that it was because I was ju

Several years back I posted several essays critical of the NoSQL euphoria. Being in my 30s, I wasn't surprised to see several argue that it was because I was just too old, man. Only that was a steaming pile of horseshit: My criticism was founded entirely in a knowledgeable, experienced analysis, and not simply brash adoption because something was new and different (an affliction that impacts developers of all ages). The new silver bullet. Reminds me of an experience I recently had. I was in a room full of programmers where the conversation quickly turned into an exchange about newer technologies between a group of mostly up-and-coming Ruby guys (who I'll call 'youngsters' for lack of a better weasel word), and a group of mostly older and established enterprise developers (the 'oldsters'). It was weird to sit on the sidelines and watch the exchange. The oldsters were asking interesting and probing questions about some of the technologies that were popular with the youngsters. Nothing really confrontational. Just a lot of genuine curiosity, tempered with a little bit of cautious skepticism (presumably borne of experience). The youngsters, on the other hand, seemed to be taking all of it rather defensively. And they did a whole lot of question-dodging. Or apparently failing to understand that they failed to understand the question (admittedly I didn't really understand a lot of these questions either - I'm a youngster myself), and giving unsatisfying answers as a result. And generally making me worry that the Dunning-Kruger effect might have been a factor in how the conversation was unfolding. Don't know where I'm going with this, other than to say that it was a rather instructive experience for me.