I know I'm not the only one old enough to remember that we already tried to apply this argument in the late 90s? That left us with countless completely incompe

I know I'm not the only one old enough to remember that we already tried to apply this argument in the late 90s? That left us with countless completely incompetent programmers, most of whom left the industry after Y2K and the burst of the bubble. Those who stuck around now largely make up the bulk unemployed IT workers whining about how there can not possibly be any shortage because nobody wants to hire them. We've already put the talentless to work in massive numbers, and not only did we as an industry pay the price, it didn't do the por sods much good either. Also, all of these arguments about mediocre programmes, 10x programmers, gender based discrimination etcetera only serves to distract and intimidate, because they have nothing to do with the fundamental question. Nobody is arguing that a having a talent for something is the only thing that matters when it comes to how good a programmer you become, or that it has anything to do with gender. Bringing it up only serves to pre-emptively make anybody trying to make a counterargument look like an arrogant, sexist douche. My instinct tells me that people trying to make a point that way already know they're wrong.