[dxbydt]

>sometimes I think the world is awash in incompetence. We see so much of it in tech because our incompetencies are (marginally) harder to hide.

A very candid Philip Greenspun in Founders@Work( p341-2) : "In aviation, by the time someone's your employee, their perceived skill and actual skill are reasonably in line. JFK Jr is not working at a charter operation because he's dead. In IT,you have people who think 'I am a great programmer'. But where are the metrics that prove them wrong ? Traffic accidents are very infrequent, so they don't get the feedback that they are a terrible driver.

Programmers walk around with a huge overestimate of their capabilities. That's why a lot of them are very bitter. They sit around stewing at their desks. That's why I don't miss IT, because programmers are very unlikable people. They are not pleasant to manage."

[nasmorn]

I second that. For musicians it is hard to hide their incompetence, for programmers it is just a matter of picking the right succession of jobs.