Open letter to elitist jerks.

[westin]

I found this to be very insightful.

http://thingist.com/t/item/4372/

I realize that this should probably be in general chit chat, but since it is not on the main page, I only remember to glance at it once every few months.

[fourdc]

Thinking of some elitist reply and drawing a blank......

[The-Spec]

I read about one third through it. I don't think people are particularly critical. Its just that he's boring, whiny, and very self-indulgent.

Whaaaaaa *snivels* *cries* Whaaaaaa...

And yet he wants people to stop in awe then compliment him?

[westin]

I read about one third through it. I don't think people are particularly critical. Its just that he's boring, whiny, and very self-indulgent.

Whaaaaaa *snivels* *crys* Whaaaaaa...

And yet he wants people to stop in awe then compliment him?

spec - you spelled cries wrong.

[s0nIc]

spec - you spelled cries wrong.

*spelt

[nihil]

@s0nic

In my experience the truly elite have no need to be "elitist", as they have nothing to prove.

The rest are usually just wannabees, fanbois or people who have just discovered something and probably don't really understand it anyway. I have always believed that someone's ability to explain something to an inexperienced person is a good indication of the depth of their knowledge.

The other problem with wannabee "elitists" is their designs are frequently over engineered, inordinately complex, and excessively priced. At the end of the day, most customers will look at the bottom line first.

EDIT:

Also technical geeks do get frustrated explaining technical things to non-technical people who aren't willing to put forth their own effort

The problem usually is that these are the very people you need to sign off your projects, as they are the budget holders. They aren't interested in technicalities, only in fitness for purpose and value for money. They employ geeks for the technical stuff...........

We have a saying over here: "You don't keep a dog and bark yourself"

[westin]

*spelt

Haha! Well played!

[s0nIc]

It is the true elite that knows there is more to learn. Thus, they do not brag or have the "elitist" attitude, as they see their current knowledge to be lacking and the task of learning is greatly vast.

tldr: the more I learn, the more I realize there is much more to learn.

[ABS]

I don't know... I think it is all a matter of perception... He seems to be making the point that skaters are non-judgmental whereas highly technical geeky people are. In my experience you could find just the opposite, just because you have some cool friends that are one way doesn't mean that everyone else is like them.

I've met several highly technical geeky people that encourage learning, and are pretty non-judgmental. In fact I would even say, that the more technical and geeky you get, the more you want other people to understand it. The problem are the people in between, that aren't super technical and so have to belittle others to make themselves seem better than they are.

Also technical geeks do get frustrated explaining technical things to non-technical people who aren't willing to put forth their own effort. The skateboarders he mentioned even wanted him to put forth the effort, or get lost... how is that any different than the technical community?

[westin]

Also technical geeks do get frustrated explaining technical things to non-technical people who aren't willing to put forth their own effort. The skateboarders he mentioned even wanted him to put forth the effort, or get lost... how is that any different than the technical community?

I can see your point of view, but to take the analogy further, it would have been more like the skateboarders coming up to him while he was learning to do a kickflip, and saying 'you suck dude, get out of my skatepark'. I see that sometimes... not so much on this forum [though it does happen], but it is prevalent on IRC, and other tech forums.