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I don't tell my lawyer, my accountant, or my doctor how to do their job. I'll get a second opinion where prudent, but other than that, I don't assume I know mor

I don't tell my lawyer, my accountant, or my doctor how to do their job. I'll get a second opinion where prudent, but other than that, I don't assume I know more than somebody who's spent a good chunk of their life specializing into that field. Extend the same professional courtesy to your fellow programmers who specialized in a different field than you. Get a second opinion if you like. But stop spreading your ignorance. I have about as much patience for mollycoddling your ego as a doctor would for Jenny McCarthy telling people how dangerous and pointless vaccines are.

MartinCron 14y ago
I totally agree with that. I respect people who know more than I do and I don't tell any specialist how to do their job. But I sure as hell don't like it if a doctor or lawyer or accountant rolls their eyes at me and speaks to me in a dismissive or condescending tone because I'm trying to have an informed opinion even though I don't have the same degree of expertise that they have. Here's an example: Me: "I've done some research and I think I should get a Roth IRA..." Accountant A: "Roth? Seriously? Sigh... You obviously don't know a damn thing about tax planning. Good thing I'm here to save your sorry ass. You need a traditional IRA" -or- Accountant B: "Actually, in this case, a traditional IRA would make a lot more sense than a Roth IRA. It's a common misunderstanding." Technically, they are both on the same page, but tonally, the difference is huge. Our industry has too many people who act like Accountant A.