Re: I may be crazy

Joe Thompson <spam+@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
"The superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations that
require his superior skills."

I like that quotation a lot[1][2], and I present it when I teach the
"software tools and systems programming" course. I think that the lack of
observance of this philosophy goes a long way towards explaining a lot of
overly-complex computer systems -- people want them to be complex so that
they can show off. (The rest of the explanation is that creating simplicity
can be difficult.)

Nevertheless, _having_ those superior skills is often of merit, if you can
keep it in your pants and avoid feeling you have to use them just because
you have them.

Similarly, I've heard it said that a Karate master never gets into a fight.


--

[1] I slightly prefer the version I've got in my quotes file, which is
"... situations in which he has to demonstrate his superior skill."

[2] If anyone has a good attribution for this quotation, I'd like to hear it.
I just write "traditional airplane pilot saying".
.

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