People are a result of nature, nurture, and choice. To the extent that they work with (and sometimes overcome) the first two, the more they have of the third. Hard work is not guaranteed to pay off, but statistically speaking, it is more effective that coasting. I've made the choice to work hard to overcome my limitations and obtain the fruits of being a geek. Some of the fruit tastes excellent in many ways and some of the fruit is bitter and sickening. I try to maximize the good and minimize the bad, but some of the bad just goes with the territory. Then people who have chosen to eat from another tree look over and judge me. They don't like the bitter fruit on their tree of choice, and so want to force me to trade my good fruit for their bad. One way they do this is by carefully crafted criticism. Not having read this book, I cannot say for sure, but it kinda seems to be one of those criticisms. Some people cannot get into any tree, and some climb into what seems to be a good tree and are doing fine until it blows over and they have to start over. Those I am willing to share with. Others are too lazy to get into any tree, or knowingly climb into a tree that is over-crowded just because they like that fruit best. Geeks are in a huge orchard of very tall trees that can support lots more people. Because there is so much fruit, and so few pickers, we work long hours to gather it in. Some of us would welcome a little competition. Oh sure, we would get less of some good fruit, but we would also get a lot less of the bad. To all you non-techies, quit your whining, climb the tall tree and pick, but don't try to justify forcing me to throw down the best of my fruit because you are too lazy to climb this high.
Slashdot Mirror
People are a result of nature, nurture, and choice. To the extent that they work with (and sometimes overcome) the first two, the more they have of the third. Hard work is not guaranteed to pay off, but statistically speaking, it is more effective that coasting. I've made the choice to work hard to overcome my limitations and obtain the fruits of being a geek. Some of the fruit tastes excellent in many ways and some of the fruit is bitter and sickening. I try to maximize the good and minimize the bad, but some of the bad just goes with the territory. Then people who have chosen to eat from another tree look over and judge me. They don't like the bitter fruit on their tree of choice, and so want to force me to trade my good fruit for their bad. One way they do this is by carefully crafted criticism. Not having read this book, I cannot say for sure, but it kinda seems to be one of those criticisms. Some people cannot get into any tree, and some climb into what seems to be a good tree and are doing fine until it blows over and they have to start over. Those I am willing to share with. Others are too lazy to get into any tree, or knowingly climb into a tree that is over-crowded just because they like that fruit best. Geeks are in a huge orchard of very tall trees that can support lots more people. Because there is so much fruit, and so few pickers, we work long hours to gather it in. Some of us would welcome a little competition. Oh sure, we would get less of some good fruit, but we would also get a lot less of the bad. To all you non-techies, quit your whining, climb the tall tree and pick, but don't try to justify forcing me to throw down the best of my fruit because you are too lazy to climb this high.