[wavesounds]

I remember when my boss told me I was a 'Rockstar' because I stayed up all night finishing a project by an unrealistic deadline he had agreed to for a customer. That was when I knew it was time to quit. Most of this is just ego boosting trumped up by managers or VCs or MBAs to get 'brogrammers' to try to compete to outdo each other with 'dedication' to the company. Sure some people are better then others but if you buy into an idea that you are a 'rockstar' or a 'ninja' or better then '10 other programmers combined', then I'm sorry to say but you're probably really just a 'tool'.

[bliti]

You make a strong point. This may be used to get people to work harder for the same (or even less) money. I have met talented programmers/engineers/developers. They had that a natural instinct towards computers. But they were not born as 10X. You can be highly talented, but still not be very good. The thing is, people who are born talented gravitate towards exploiting that talent. In computers, its the guys who are always thinking, talking, and dreaming about systems. The ones who sometimes stay up late because they just have to code. Or the ones who are obsessed over the layout of a PCB.

It is the mix of talent, and dedication that puts some people above others (in terms of skills). Not some myth or anything.