[cjmb]

Don't let it bother you man. It's just an example of cross-cultural confusion crossed with some blunt HN mannerisms (to put it politely).

The tell is the callout that this is an "American thing" -- which, well, it is. America has a culture, and especially SF has a culture, that's pretty distinct from elsewhere. Talking up the raw intellect of one's coworkers is a very SF thing, and a very-non-European thing (not to say the person you're responding to is from the EU, I'm sure there's other similar places).

How it reads to an American: "this commenter is psyched to go to work with their colleagues, whose contributions and company they enjoy"

How it (could conceivably) read to someone from a culture very different from SF's: "this commenter is bragging about the IQ of their coworkers relative to everyone else's, which is either uncouth or sycophantic."

Commenting on it is of course ridiculous. Happy your team is good :)

[JohnBooty]

Interesting perspective, thanks.

It's hard to wrap my mind around somebody thinking a stranger is "bragging" or "uncouth" or "sycophantic" because they think their team is smart and fun to work with.

But, I understand that it's a thing.

[jwiz]

To be clear, it's not that you think they are smart and fun to work with, it's that you are saying they are smart and fun to work with.

[JohnBooty]

Saying they are "fun" is obviously my personal opinion. How could it be anything else? Of course it means I think they are fun and not it is a universal truth that everybody thinks my team is fun.

As for smart, aren't most/all engineers "smart?" I hardly thought that calling a group of engineers "smart" would be controversial.