Psychopaths in the software industry

domi

domi

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
Apologies in advance to the readers for the industry specificity of this topic.

In the wake of Zed Shaw's rant on Rails* somebody actually did a dang fine job of recognizing ponerology in action in the software industry and documented it here: http://www.jroller.com/rickard/entry/psychopaths_in_the_software_industry

It is nice to see the word is getting out there.

* more info at _http://www.zedshaw.com for those interested
 
I figured it was about time to write it... I have received a lot of positive comments about it, and more related material, so followups are likely. :-) One of the few negative comments I got was from a guy working at Raytheon. He hadn't seen any psychos in his workplace. Funny. Another commentator, who I tracked down as being a Wilhelm Reich fan, said "Stop it!". Funny.

From the access logs I can see that at least CIA, DHS, NSA and FBI, as well as Raytheon and NorthropGrumman folks have read it. I was actually surprised that they don't use anonymizer proxies when they surf the web. Oh well. Also interesting to see that those two entries got 15.000 hits in a couple of days, which is more than all my other entries for the past five years.
 
foofighter said:
I was actually surprised that they don't use anonymizer proxies when they surf the web.
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Yeah it seems that they have a habit of not disguising their surfing habits.

C's said:
Q: We have been discussing the strange visitors to our website. It seems that there is a lot of interest from groups that are
connected with intelligence and military organizations. Can you tell us what their interest is in our material?
A: Material is largely accurate.
Q: Do they understand that this material is largely accurate, and is this the reason for their interest?
A: Yes.
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Maybe they don't disguise it on purpose - so that you know they are watching you, as a subtle attempt at intimidation? Or maybe they just don't care if you know or not. They do have a lot of hubris and wishful thinking, so they do a lot of things without thinking it through or caring who sees them do it.
 
Well done footfighter! Looks like you've reached some people who really want to get a handle on ponerized corporate culture. Hopefully they'll follow up on the books you've recommended, so they can develop the ability to out psychopathic behavior like you've done. I know there are a lot of creative people in the software development field, so there's a lot of potential there for raising awareness and turning things around.
 
Miss Isness said:
Well done footfighter! Looks like you've reached some people who really want to get a handle on ponerized corporate culture. Hopefully they'll follow up on the books you've recommended, so they can develop the ability to out psychopathic behavior like you've done. I know there are a lot of creative people in the software development field, so there's a lot of potential there for raising awareness and turning things around.
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Thank you! Yes, it is definitely a place where information about ponerology would be very useful. Actually, I was re-reading the book today for inspiration for the next post on the blog, and I found that there were many similarities between what in the industry would be called "evangelization", which Lobaczewski calls "spellbinding". Veeery interesting. I'm not sure I even have to refer to some actual usecase. Just quoting some specific parts of the book would be enough for those who have "eyes to see with" to know what I mean.

I must also confess that I am a bit surprised and overwhelmed by the positive responses so far, both publically and off-list. I was imagining the worst, including getting fired, but so far everyone I care about has been very supportive and thankful. Some old acquaintances have been reignited, and some new that I appreciate a lot. C'est la vie I guess. With the additional material I have received on the topic as a consequence, and knowing that Zed has more rants in the pipeline (and is now also armed with the Ponerology book), it could get somewhat interesting really. We'll see what happens I guess.

Btw, I think your misspelling of my alias is very funny, and in some sense very appropriate! :-)
 
foofighter said:
I must also confess that I am a bit surprised and overwhelmed by the positive responses so far, both publically and off-list. I was imagining the worst, including getting fired, but so far everyone I care about has been very supportive and thankful.
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I was skimming down your article towards the comments section getting ready to read the flaming comments and I was happy to see the support instead as well.

foofighter said:
Some old acquaintances have been reignited, and some new that I appreciate a lot. C'est la vie I guess. With the additional material I have received on the topic as a consequence, and knowing that Zed has more rants in the pipeline (and is now also armed with the Ponerology book), it could get somewhat interesting really. We'll see what happens I guess.
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Zed reminds me of Bill Hicks. Glad you were able to get him introduced to ponerology.

Snakes in Suits is definitely recommended reading for those in any industry and I think especially in the software industry because it is easier for somebody to plagiarize.
 
foofighter wrote:
Btw, I think your misspelling of my alias is very funny, and in some sense very appropriate! :-)
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oops! :P Glad my oversight was good for a laugh. I remember once noticing that it was actually foofighter, but somehow it's just always stuck in my mind as footfighter. I imagined you had a sense of humour - at least that part was right...
 
Hat's off to you Foofighter!

Great work. Especially coming so soon after your 'pointless' moment. You're an inspiration for me just now, thank you :)
 
Miss Isness said:
oops! :P Glad my oversight was good for a laugh. I remember once noticing that it was actually foofighter, but somehow it's just always stuck in my mind as footfighter. I imagined you had a sense of humour - at least that part was right...
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Yeah, no problem at all. As I said, in some sense it is actually quite appropriate. The "foot" is of course where the "sole" is, so being a "solefighter" would naturally bring to mind the similar word "soulfighter", so you have the highest and lowest at the same time. :-) See how much fun one can have with misspellings!
 
starsailor said:
Hat's off to you Foofighter!

Great work. Especially coming so soon after your 'pointless' moment. You're an inspiration for me just now, thank you :)
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Thanks :-) And as you can imagine the "pointless" moment is what triggered me to write it in the first place, so all of you, with your help and replies, were an inspiration to me at that time. Kudos for that :-) Pointlessness has a point it seems.
 
foofighter said:
Yeah, no problem at all. As I said, in some sense it is actually quite appropriate. The "foot" is of course where the "sole" is
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Ah yes, the soles...

_http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/672
 
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