Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs

Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by rco8786 on Sunday April 30, 2023 @08:16AM (#35761871)

> Nowadays, people seem to be overly sensitive about their code and the way we communicate, among other things.

If there's one thing I've learned in life, anytime you see "Nowadays" or "these days" or something similar, you can be guaranteed that whatever statement follows it is a universal truism about the human condition that recency has no bearing on.

People are sensitive about their work. And sensitive to how we communicate together. Always have been. Always will be.

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Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by thunky on Sunday April 30, 2023 @09:29AM (#35762354)

So you're saying people as a whole don't change behavior over time?

It's not possible that the average modern software developer is just a bit more sensitive about their work than a welder was in 1950?

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Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by ianbutler on Sunday April 30, 2023 @09:43AM (#35762468)

I've known people who talk about their welding skill and would be unhappy if you pointed out their joint looked like crap.

People, in general, are sensitive about anything important to them.

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Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by thunky on Sunday April 30, 2023 @10:19AM (#35762799)

I was trying to compare equivalent professions across time periods, not to suggest that welders are any different than developers.

I would not be surprised if modern day welders get offended by their equipment manual as well.

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Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by ianbutler on Sunday April 30, 2023 @11:27AM (#35763452)

I A. Don't see significant similarity between welding and programming B. Think that you would be wrong about people being annoyed about things that make their work harder across any time period.

The difference is how people expressed those emotions or not, not whether they had them.

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Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by thunky on Sunday April 30, 2023 @11:50AM (#35763709)

> The difference is how people expressed those emotions or not

That's a change in behavior.

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Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by ianbutler on Sunday April 30, 2023 @01:43PM (#35764816)

> It's not possible that the average modern software developer is just a bit more sensitive about their work than a welder was in 1950?

I was responding to this. My answer is no. Whether they express it or not, I imagine the sensitivity hasn't increased. You can feel something (being sensitive) without choosing to express it.

Emotional control is something well-adjusted people do every day, regardless of what they are feeling. It is simply more acceptable to express these emotions now.

If I had to guess people in the 50s just died inside and then drank themselves to death instead. Or took it out on their families.

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Re:Just Simply – Stop saying how simple things are in our docs by rco8786 on Monday May 01, 2023 @06:51AM (#35771111)

> So you're saying people as a whole don't change behavior over time?

At a fundamental emotional level, yea that's pretty much what I am saying.

> It's not possible that the average modern software developer is just a bit more sensitive about their work than a welder was in 1950?

Maybe. It's possible that the selection of 1950s welders consisted of a fundamentally different slice of the overall social profile than coders of the 2020s. But overall sensitivity comes with pride. If 1950s welders had pride in their work I am certain they had sensitivity about it also.

But the statement was "Nowadays people seem to be oversensitive about their code". So you have to compare people who write code now vs people who wrote code in the past. Not two different professions.

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