From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 25353 invoked from network); 9 Aug 2022 19:01:05 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 9 Aug 2022 19:01:05 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 23B8D40D01; Wed, 10 Aug 2022 05:00:31 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mcvoy.com (mcvoy.com [192.169.23.250]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4CCFD40CF8 for ; Wed, 10 Aug 2022 05:00:28 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mcvoy.com (Postfix, from userid 3546) id 22EC135E32F; Tue, 9 Aug 2022 12:00:28 -0700 (PDT) Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2022 12:00:28 -0700 From: Larry McVoy To: Tom Teixeira Message-ID: <20220809190028.GD21168@mcvoy.com> References: <20220809174232.A882C18C08A@mercury.lcs.mit.edu> <20220809184910.GC21168@mcvoy.com> <092e2eda-9b02-39a9-9de3-8343cd337d78@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <092e2eda-9b02-39a9-9de3-8343cd337d78@earthlink.net> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.24 (2015-08-30) Message-ID-Hash: XDZZYNIPR5V6RHC2UQGGZ5AQK2AL3IGO X-Message-ID-Hash: XDZZYNIPR5V6RHC2UQGGZ5AQK2AL3IGO X-MailFrom: lm@mcvoy.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; header-match-tuhs.tuhs.org-0; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header CC: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: SNOBOL and RATSNO List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: 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. -- --- Larry McVoy Retired to fishing http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/boat