Good people behaving badly on the internet

Expert, experienced programmers can be full of doubts. Tyros can be very dangerous, they are unconsciously incompetent. They read “raganwald’s” latest column about method combinators, they know just how to design the new program! Experienced hands see flaws and dangers everywhere, especially in their own choices. They use words like “sometimes” and phrases like “it depends.”

That carries over to subjects like therapy. The more you know, the more you see things as having trade-offs, the more you recognize the unknowns. You end up thinking that on balance such-and-such has been a good choice, but will go no further than saying “Have a look at it, decide for yourself” when asked to recommend it to others.

[ Source: https://raganwald.posterous.com/good-people-behaving-badly-on-the-internet ]