[excitedNerd]

(Author here again) I appreciate your point here! It's true that "wizard" reminds me a little bit of being called a "rockstar," which I have always had a distaste for due to the above-mentioned ego thing. I elected to use "wizard" because I find it to be a useful and interesting metaphor in light of my own personal love for RPGs and fantasy, and because I was really inspired by Julia Evans' use of the term to de-mystify learning. I think of it as a rhetorical device, and nothing more.

[switchbak]

Good to hear. That's essentially how I read the article, and I think it has a special quality to those with the rpg/ fantasy background.

I really love Julia Evan's writing as well, especially the way she's so humble and open about her path.

I have unfortunately met a bunch of folks that while being brilliant, also seem caught up in being seen as uniquely gifted/powerful. When their status gets challenged, they can be particularly nasty in defending themselves. And it's that connotation where the Wizard metaphor troubles me. Looking back I've even see myself getting caught up in this, which I think can be an energetic trap, and really harm relations and even team efficiency.

Funny that a single word has such a dichotomy :) Thanks for the article!

[xtracerx]

Ah yes, the power-mad dark wizard. You should avoid that guy and hang out with the laid back hippy zen wizards.