[TUHS] Re: SNOBOL and RATSNO

[Larry McVoy <lm@mcvoy.com>]

On Tue, Aug 09, 2022 at 02:54:08PM -0400, Tom Teixeira wrote:
> On 8/9/22 2:49 PM, Larry McVoy wrote:
> >On Tue, Aug 09, 2022 at 01:42:32PM -0400, Noel Chiappa wrote:
> >>     > From: Rob Pike
> >>
> >>     > I still marvel at the productivity and precision of his generatio
> >>
> >>We noticed the same thing happening in the IETF, as the number of people
> >>working on networking went up. The explanation is really quite simple, once
> >>you think about it a bit.
> >>
> >>If you have a very small group, it is quite possible to have a very high
> >>level. (Not if it's selected randomly, of course; there has to be some
> >>sorting function.) However, as the group gets much larger, it is
> >>_necessarily_ much more 'average' in the skill/etc level of its members.
> >I used to complain about this at Sun and was dryly told "We get it,
> >Larry, you are yeast.  You need flour to make bread."
> >
> >And as time went on, I found that the smart people tended to find each
> >other.  So it was fine.
> >
> >It is more fun when it is a highly curated group of smart people.  Made
> >me work hard to keep up.
> 
> Put another way, "If you're always the smartest person in the room, you're
> spending your time in the wrong rooms."

I was usually the dumbest one in the room, I found the right rooms :-)

I personally like being "dumb", the other people just make you want to
work harder to reach their level.  Back when I used to play pool pretty
seriously, I always tried to play people better than me.  You get lazy
if you are the best.

-- 
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Larry McVoy           Retired to fishing          http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/boat