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Classic Gerald Weinberg Essay Reprinted
danielread writes "Programmer abuse has been a popular topic recently, especially within the gaming industry. However, excessive overtime and overwork are not new problems for software professionals. Twenty years ago, acclaimed author Gerald Weinberg wrote an essay called 'Personal Chemistry and the Healthy Body,' which is as relevant for programmers today as it was two decades ago. Given this topic's recent resurgence, Mr. Weinberg was generous enough to let developer.* Magazine reprint this classic essay."
It's not just computer-savvy geeks anymore. The trend is reaching into the mainstream now, with things like IM and cell phones.
Take a walk around a college campus or a mall some time. If you see someone that is not walking with another person, they will usually have a cell phone in hand. You may wonder how that is anti-social, but the reason they have a cell phone is to hide behind it. Just like geeks hide behind the keyboard, "ordinary" people hide behind cell phones to avoid conversation with new and strange people.
I'd bet good money that an increasing number of the people walking around with cell phones have anxiety when not using it. I would also wager that the act of just using a cell phone contributes to developing anxiety and anti-social behavior. Much like overusage of a computer does.
Dijkstra Considered Dead
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I find it somewhat disheartening that so many "geeks" are actually proud of the basement dwelling stereotype they've acquired.
:-]
Why not?? I was a "basement dweller" for a long time. OK, I didn't live in my parents' basement, but I spent most of my waking time doing computers. 10 years of that professionally and two cycles of hot market for computer contractors, I earned and saved enough money to retire at the age of 35. With my new found time, I started socializing, found a wife and started a family (and got back into work part-time to cover the bills comfortably)... Yeah, being a geek is awful... just awful...
Take a walk around a college campus or a mall some time. If you see someone that is not walking with another person, they will usually have a cell phone in hand.
Lots of people on my campus use their cell phone walking between classes even when they are walking with another person. I've seen couples walking together, both of them on their cell phones at the same time.
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That study was debunked because they used artificial light in 30 hour cycles.
http://www.fastcompany.com/online/06/writestuff.ht ml
No electrons were harmed creating this post, though some may have been subjected to electrical and/or magnetic fields.
I've never understood why the IT industry has been so adverse to Unions? Employers don't value employee rights unless there is a viable threat from a large number of employees suddenly stopping all work. We are long overdue rethinking this position and realize that the phrase, "wage slave" isn't a compliment.
They came for the Communists, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a Communist; They came for the Socialists, and I didn'
No, rules without reasons help a person develop healthy habits and to benefit from them before he learns the reasons for them. That can come in its own good time.
It rarely does any good to try to explain to a child why he should eat his spinach, you just get him to eat it. By the time he understands why it's good for him he's in the habit of eating it and has benefited from the nutrition in the meantime.
A novice programmer might not understand why GOTOs are to be reserved for a small number of special situations, but you impose standards enforced via peer review that makes him avoid them when unnecessary anyway. By the time he understands why they're undesireable he's accustomed to coding without them to the point where it's become second nature, and in the meantime the code he's written is more maintainable by others.
Insisting that people learn the reasons for moral (or otherwise desireable) behavior before they adopt those behaviors is simply not workable in the real world.
And the brethren went away edified.
- Many school teachers find their reward in working with pupils rather than large salaries or advancing in administrative roles.
- Directors like Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings) find their satisfaction in telling their story rather than advancing in superficial Hollywood circles or sleeping every day.
- Many nurses and medical technicians are attracted more to the ability to heal and ease others physical pain than large doctor salaries or authoring articles for journals
- Many same-sex couples find the loving bond of a relationship to be worth the social stigma, lack of legal recognition, and difficulty in producing off-spring.
While this fellow makes some good points as to how to "fit in" to the superficial business world, a wise person will sit down and decide whether fitting in will actually help in advancing the goals and satisfactions of their life. It's fortunate that different people have different goals and if you need the money of a tech lead or team manager to meet yours then definitely pay attention to this advice. But if your goals and life priorities are different, think about what you can do to help meet them and whether or not this advice still applies.I've long suspected that this is true. Just walking through a campus or down a street is anxiogenic for many, many people. Every person they encounter is another social dilemma: Do I make eye contact, do I avert my glance in a possibly obvious and unfriendly way, etc. Not only does a cell phone give you something else to focus on, but it also projects the impression that you have friends, or at least that there's one person in the world who's willing to talk to you. It works whether there's anyone at the other end, or not.
I'm definitely someone you could describe as "anti-social", and I'm sure this is a negative thing for me in many ways, in a society where social connections are very important.
I've thought about this a fair bit, and compared my reactions to that of outgoing friends -- and I've reached the conclusion that a large part of it is because I simply like people less(!): In equally stressful situations, the more outgoing person will put up with the stress, and the crap, because they want to be with people, but at some point I just say the hell with it, it's not worth it.
Some of the above-mentioned outgoing friends complain endless about the people they hang out with. I'll ask "If you don't like them, then why hang out with them?" -- and there will be this weird feeling of mutual incomprehension, and they'll say "Well there's no-one else to hang out with, I don't want anybody to think I'm alone!"
Onwards we stumble...
We live, as we dream -- alone....
I'm not contesting that social skills are useful, and sometimes necessary for advancing a career. But many basement dwelling nerds are perfectly happy and functional members of our society (even if they prefer to spend as little time in it as they can). Isn't that what's important? I know a few people who are a bit anti-social: they often spend time with one or two friends at a time, but they simply do not function well in larger groups. They hate being in larger groups. And yet they make themselves go to parties and company functions, because that is what society expects of them (and your comment reflects that), even though the experience makes them thoroughly miserable. They would be perfectly happy individuals except for the fact that society makes them feel bad about their anti-social behaviour.
My point is: social skills are often important to advance your career, and one would do well to take note of that fact. It's also very good to give being sociable a try... it never hurts to expand one's horizon in whatever direction, and you may find that you like the company of others after all! But don't let people like the parent poster make you leave your basement, if it makes you miserable and unhappy.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
This is called the spotlight fallacy, and is a special case of the broader fallacy Biased sample. Its shortest form is "between form A which is visible and form B which is not, all I ever see is form A, so surely form A is predominant." Of course everyone you know using cell phones also exists in the real world: if they didn't, you wouldn't know them.
That's why chat rooms get the bad reputations: they're a quick line to people which don't use other communications media. Whereas sure there are some shut-ins on IRC, personally I've found the ratio to be far smaller than that of a moderately sized college class, DMV line, or other cross-social-barrier settings.
Your observation is thusly flawed.
StoneCypher is Full of BS
You know, out of the three industries I've worked in, programmers have by far been the least prone to complaint. Granted this balks a stereotype, and may be cultural - the industries I've worked in map directly to the cities I've lived in. Still, I worry that the tendency of mobs to agree has worsened your perception of an occupation unduly; the bulk of the programmers I've had the pleasure to know were, probably because it's their occupation, problem solvers. Amusingly, the only two programmers I've known which were prone to complaint were also the two which couldn't solve their own bugs.
Again, it might just be coincidence. (As far as cutting them a check on the spot, maybe work with them a bit; I've also had problem employees with that sort of attitude because their previous employer's behavior taught them to distrust me without knowing me. Set your boundaries, but give them a chance, y'know? Some people, once their bubbles are burst, turn into reliable trustable workers despite early attitude problems.)
StoneCypher is Full of BS