[capitalistLove]

I dont think this person understands passion. When you do something out of passion, it doesnt burn you out. It doesnt feel like work, because you enjoy it. By definition, you cant burn out by pursuing your passion.

I am passionate about software development - I enjoy it and while I have experienced burnout before, its never been from software development, only from all of the other things that have to do with business. I want to hire passionate developers not because they are "easier to exploit" but because passion helps you be better at what you do - if you can program for hours and not feel burnt out because you enjoy it, youre likley to program a lot and gain a lot of technical expertise. Passionate people are more likley to be happy with their jobs, and happiness can be contageious - it contributes to a positive office environment. I dont expect anyone to ever work more than 40 hours a week regardless of passion - in fact I discourage it, and even encourage working less than that if you can still get things done doing so. Passionate people don't get "rewarded with a pat on the back" as the writer claims - they get rewarded by having done something they enjoyed and being happy. Huge difference.

It sounds like this person isn't passionate, and is trying to make up for it by mischaracterizing passionate people and attacking them. This seems dumb, jelous, and mean. I agree that passion shouldnt be a requirement to be employed in a field - after all, lots of people arent passionate about anything and still have to make money. Fortunatley, from fist hand experience, it is obviously not neccisary to be passionate about software to have a career in it. We already live in the world this person wants. I agree that this is how it should be. I dont see the point of trying to go after people who value passion or try to form work groups where thats a sought after trait, them doing so doesnt make things worse for anyone else.

[PeterWhittaker]

I have to take issue with the notion that doing a thing out of passion will not burn you out: it is possible to overdo a thing - out of passion - to the extent it does burn you out.

Speaking from personal experience....

Recovery is easier/faster than in the non-passion case, but it still happens.

As to being dispassionate, when I take such an approach, even to the passionate thing, I have greater endurance and tolerance for moments of frustration.

Seems to me that protects from overdoing it too.

[capitalistLove]

I think we're using the word passion differently. I have certainly gone through periods of time when I have completley lost interest in programming - for a variety or reasons, possibly involving working too much. But, I'd say that in these circumstances I have lost my passion for programming (and was fortunate to get it back later).

My point is more that there really are people who contribute to OSS and whatnot for no reason other than that they felt good doing so. I think this is a behavior to be encouraged and celebrated. I agree with the author's point that we shouldnt encourage extra suffering-inducing work for the sake of it, but disagree with his take that all acts of extra-curricular work cause suffering in those that do it.

[PeterWhittaker]

Well said! There is rereading in my near future....

[Kranar]

Words do have different meanings depending on context and a host of facts, and you are entitled to have some interpretation of the word passion but in its most literal and original sense, passion means to act in suffering. That is, you act out of such a desire towards something that you suffer and sacrifice yourself in the process, ie. The Passion of Jesus.

It also has a romantic sense to it, for example you are passionately in love if you suffer for that love and would sacrifice yourself for it. You are passionate about something if you're willing to die for it. That is, your feelings about something are so intense that you are willing to endure suffering and pain for it. A programmer is passionate if they devote themselves to it to the point that they end up sacrificing other parts of their life in the process.

I am passionate about programming in that sense, for better or worse, and have knowingly sacrificed a great deal in pursuit of this skill and have lost out in many other areas of my life because of it. I am not ashamed to admit it anymore than a Medical Doctor is ashamed to admit that they must also sacrifice a great deal of their life to pursue their career path, doctors are also passionate about their career.

It would be hard to claim that you are passionate about something without admitting to sacrificing or risking something in pursuit of that passion or feeling pain about it such as burning out or struggling to the point of feeling exhausted, even depressed in some cases. It does not mean doing something out of fun or joy or leisure, it means doing something in spite of the pain often because you believe in it so strongly that you put aside feelings of joy.

That said, there are certainly very competent developers who are incredibly productive and aren't passionate about it, and as you said it may even be the case that people who do programming for fun end up being productive because it's fun for them and that helps keep them motivated. That's amazing and I admire such people... but that's not being passionate in its most common usage, passion kind of has a fairly common meaning and the author is using it appropriately.

[capitalistLove]

I have honestly never thought of the word passion in those terms. To me, it has always been an intensley positive word with connotations of love and wellbeing - but I can see how someone could go through life with your definition and have every instance of the word passion make sense, but mean something different than it means to me, and also simultaneously make sense to me.