When collaborating by the mechanisms you describe is not a priority, it is reasonably sound engineering practice to ignore those mechanisms.

Though there are tradeoffs (and assuming 10x programmers exist) a ten-ex programmer can replace a team of ten one-ex programmers and eliminate mechanisms facilitating intra-team efficiency from the process.

Anyway, to me the Tower of Babel is a metaphor of collective action...building construction requires teamwork. Icarus is better for lone wolves.