Fixing Their Stupid F**king Code

From this Vox article about Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk:

At Zip2, we see the beginnings of Musk’s maniacal work ethic take hold — that, and his inability to work well with others. He and his brother Kimbal sleep on futons in their office and shower at the Y down the street. When new engineers come in, Musk devotes extra time to “fixing their stupid fucking code.” He and Kimbal get into physical knockdown fights in the office; once, Musk has to go to the hospital for a tetanus shot after Kimbal bites him. They sell the company after two years for $300 million.

Sadly I've had the experience a time or two of the "I'm a genius and you're a pathetic idiot" mode of software developers. Give me the pathetic idiot who at least has the sense to know they're not a genius any day of the week. Brilliant assholes are beyond toxic.

I once worked with a "genius" (and I use that term sarcastically in case it's not apparent) who when I offered to make a trivial fix to his code said "No! Don't touch it! I'll fix it!" As if we weren't pairing there together and somehow my inferior coding skills would contaminate his "brilliant" work.

I've come to think less and less of the "Great Man" theory of history. Yes, I know it's sexist--the term "Great Man" but honestly it's mostly men who have the colossal ego to think of themselves as somehow divinely ordained to change the world and tough luck for all the human beings they step on. I don't know the man and I'm not the position to cast stones at anyone but I'd guess that Elon Musk fancies himself one of those "Great Men" who's bound to change the world. If so, then I think he's mistaken infamy for fame and bluster for true achievement.