Discussion on: Are we pretentious and arrogant?

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I've been trying to come up with an answer to this, but it's complicated. So, here are some of my scatterbrained thoughts as a list:

Pretentiousness is likely a very vocal minority
There's a lot of pride in being able to create the platforms that we communicate on, therefore critiques can feel insulting
Communication skills aren't always valued in tech, thus pretentiousness
Pretentiousness exists in every discipline that is valued (engineering is no different)
Internet anonymity allows for trolling and a lack of accountability
There are very few universal truths in tech, so topics are often contentious
There's a precedent for arrogance on major platforms like Stack Overflow
Tech moves fast and things get easier, therefore you get arrogance from people who had to do things the hard way in the past

Vicki Langer • Nov 20 '19

This is a fantastic list of reasons for this behavior

🦄N B🛡 • Feb 25 '20

// ,

Pretentiousness exists in every discipline that is valued (engineering is no different)

I like that you mention this, given my interactions with engineers from Automotive companies.

I'd argue that, given how new the Computer Science field is compared to others, that we actually have less pretentiousness, since the "established truths" & patterns of the field are still in flux.

Sometimes pretensions and arrogance toward some parties are the right thing to do, though, especially if those parties are found to have been acting in bad faith.

Jeremy Grifski • Feb 25 '20

I think the "established truths" bit is definitely true. Everyone is free to discover, explore, and create which is what makes tech great.

Paradoxically, I think the lack of "established truths" also allows people to arbitrarily decide whats true. Then, people form strong opinions about silly things like naming conventions and programming languages.