Patrick Maupin wrote: > On Mar 31, 11:28 pm, Steven D'Aprano > <ste...@remove.this.cybersource.com.au> wrote: > >> I wouldn't so much say "literal" as "precise". > > Being precise in your own words is an admirable trait. Asking others > to be more precise can be done politely when necessary, but in this > case it obviously wasn't necessary, since even you, who deliberately > misinterpret everything I write, knew that I was really talking about > lists. > >> If you think I'm pedantic, you should see some of the guys I work >> with. > > I can well imagine that everybody who has to work with you thoroughly > enjoys proving you wrong as often as possible.
I am glad I wasn't drinking when I read this. Liquid in one's nose is so uncomfortable. > I would expect they are probably much gentler to each other in your > absence. OTOH, if I am wrong, I certainly wouldn't last long there > -- I've left less poisonous workplaces for less cause. > >> I'm frequently on the receiving end of technical corrections. Yes, >> it's annoying to be in full flow explaining something, only to have >> somebody point out that you've made a silly mistake, or totally got >> something wrong, or what you've been calling a NAT device >> (including to the client) for a week is actually a NAS device >> *cough*. Annoying or not, if somebody had corrected me earlier, I >> wouldn't have looked quite so ignorant for quite so long, so all >> things considered I'd prefer to have my mistakes pointed out so I >> can stop making them. > > There is a (not very subtle) difference between saying "Oh, you meant > a list, not a string" (especially when the context was a discussion > of list processing), and printing a traceback for something that > nobody was discussing, based on a single word slip. > >>> It's a geek thing. >> Heavens, geeks on a programming forum! Who could possibly have >> expected such a thing? > > Mr. Holden was being unfailingly polite, in trying to point out that > many individuals who have a reasonably high intellect, yet zero > social skills, will gravitate toward technical fields. When he was > asking you to admit that you "tend toward the literal" (which > naturally you refused to do) I think he may have been trying to > gently explain that introspection is not just for Python anymore. > Nicely put (though I have to question the accuracy of "unfailingly polite" if it was intended as a generic description of my behavior. I guess we have to value the good that's in Steven (few would deny that he *is* technically very competent) and try and ignore his more annoying side. I have toyed many times with the idea of giving a presentation at PyCon called something like "Humanity 101". It would include such advice as "When I say 'use soap' I am not talking about the Simple Object Access Protocol" and "Being wrong is usually survivable; offending a homicidal maniac often isn't". Perhaps I should just add it to the Holden Web course schedule? regards Steve -- Steve Holden +1 571 484 6266 +1 800 494 3119 See PyCon Talks from Atlanta 2010 http://pycon.blip.tv/ Holden Web LLC http://www.holdenweb.com/ UPCOMING EVENTS: http://holdenweb.eventbrite.com/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
