Anyone who grows up watching TV, never sees any religion or philosophy, is raised in an atmosphere of moral relativism, learns about civics from watching bimbo eruptions on network TV news, and attends a university where postmodernists vie to outdo each other in demolishing traditional notions of truth and quality, is going to come out into the world as one pretty feckless human being.

— Neal Stephenson, In the Beginning…Was the Command Line

These differences explain why it has been hard to design software engineering education that actually produces capable software developers. Many software engineering groups are in computer science departments that emphasize the science over engineering.

— Peter J. Denning and Matti Tedre, Computational Thinking

Politics is the mind-killer. Arguments are soldiers. Once you know which side you’re on, you must support all favorable claims, and argue against all unfavorable claims. Otherwise it’s like giving aid and comfort to the enemy, or stabbing your friends in the back.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, How to Actually Change Your Mind

In a potentially contentious meeting, ask three good questions before you share your perspective, and you’ll see the room shift around you.

— Will Larson and Tanya Reilly, Staff Engineer

Unless and until all members of a team have a common understanding of the problem, attempts to solve the problem are just so much wasted energy.

— Gerald Weinberg, Becoming a Technical Leader