[mickronome]

I have a 'pet theory' (ie random thought that crossed my mind a few times), that to become a good engineer or software developer you need to have, or make yourself a perspective of the world, and your place in it, where you don't need to - even subconsciously - lie to yourself in order to feel all right.

It almost appears as if the brain almost doesn't allow us to see what we need to see, and think what we need to think to be good at those task, if doing so will interfere with our self image and/or worldview in a similar vein as our more physical self-preservation instincts make it very hard to consciously do things that will cause pain or harm.

I don't think it is about having to be altogether rational or truthful, but rather that you and the perception of whatever world you experience will not be significantly challenged by the observations you do each day, the thoughts you experience, and the decisions you make.

[bkmartin]

This is sort of along the lines of something I've commented on with my wife a couple of times recently. People like to see themselves as doers of good, not evil. It helps keep a person sane. Not many people are okay with being bad people (doing unethical things on purpose). So what do we do when we are acting unethically? We have internal justifications and rationalizations that we use to excuse unethical behaviors in our own minds in order to keep a positive picture of ourselves in our own minds or identities.

[et-al]

As a tangent, this also reminds me of what an NYTimes op-ed columnist wrote about the current administration:

> Truth be told, the incessant lying by this president and the elaborate apparatus he has built in the White House to bend reality to meet those lies means that nothing they say is to be believed anyway, but this is of a different nature. This says to America: I’m going to tell you a lie that is so outrageous that you will want to believe that some part of it is true, to preserve your faith in truth, democracy and mankind.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/opinion/trump-letter-come...

No one wants to believe they made a bad decision because like you said, they want to be doers of good.

[sjg007]

It's probably a mix of stockholm syndrome (with respect to peers and company) and the Dunning–Kruger effect (overall competence). Also with a heavy serving of denial.

And it's not a sign of a good engineer at all.