Marco Arment just called us all out (all of us programmer types) as childish douchebags and I think he's kinda right. People on the Internet are generally asshats when given the opportunity to be anonymous...
But programmers are a special case. Because not only will they tell you how wrong you are, but they’ll also tell you how stupid and idiotic you are, and they’ll mathematically prove it, and you should never program again, and you should be fired, you moron. Their attacks are all-out personal insults on your intelligence, but much better written and argued than most internet commenters.
Everyone, and not just programmers, needs to read Paul Graham's, "How to Disagree" article. Most people don't make it past DH4 on his dsiagreement hierarchy.
February 21, 2010