Protecting communities

One of the things I've learnt in programming is that there is a time for coding and a time for thought. If you're doing one when you should be doing the other, then you end up wasting a lot of effort. And it's more frustrating to throw away code - and therefore people end up writing kludges and ugly band-aids rather than redesign, which ultimately wastes more time.

And when everyone is saying that they need to discuss something, and you're the only one saying that you should do just write code, it's more likely that you're wrong. If you're the only one saying "hold on, let's think about this" and everyone else is just getting in and writing code, then you might be wrong and you might be right - but it's more likely that thinking about it will contribute something even if other people have gone ahead with code.

I mean this with respect: has anyone checked whether Scott has just had a manic episode? I've seen friends go through this; Stephen Fry's documentary "The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive" is an excellent explanation of both the symptoms and the life of the sufferer. This, to me (as an amateur psychologist), has all the hallmarks: just wants to get in and do stuff, doesn't care who he insults, everyone else is clearly wrong, and long, somewhat rambling posts explaining their position. This is not an insult; I'd rather see some level of support for someone that might be heading toward a big depressive episode.

Hope this helps,

Paul