The problem is that they are often buried in narcissism, just like this essay, which is ironically claiming that he is not afflicted by such.
Basically it's the same thing that rubs me the wrong way with Timothy Ferriss -- sometimes there's useful stuff in there. His version, however, seems more playfully mischievous; he seems to be in on the joke.
I've looked at a whole bunch of code you wrote and without exception it is exemplary, that's the way to do it, lead by example, not by going after an individual, no matter how silly they are.
By singling out this one person I'm thinking that he got under your skin with his stupid remarks and this (hoisting him by his own petard) is your way of paying him back.
As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter one bit what the guy wrote or how crappy his software is, there is no need for you to show him, the code speaks for you.
The piece indeed has some good points about A-listers, but for the most part it comes across to me as being written by someone who needs help of some sort.
Because the ForgePlucker got posted to HN I learned of it and hence the last couple of days interactions. The resulted in me reading his blog a bit and hence this posting.
I've looked at a whole bunch of code you wrote and without exception it is exemplary, that's the way to do it, lead by example, not by going after an individual, no matter how silly they are.
You haven't looked hard enough :-) I'm sure there's quite a bit of stuff I'd be ashamed of today.
Self-awareness is key to improving. If you're not ashamed of at least a fraction of your code, you're deluded.
Invariably the most talented people are those painfully aware of their own flaws and shortcomings.
Clearly, I don't agree with his self-assessment as an A-lister, but the article has some interesting points. But that's partly because my evaluation of him is that he's not, and partly because I don't think self-assessment really counts.