Intelligent software craftsmen and women, or at least those suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect, pride themselves on logical and well-reasoned opinions, and sometimes express those opinions with great flair and color. But like all things, software development is full of grey areas. High-minded logicians like us may not see it that way, but opinions are at the core of many of the choices we’ve made - especially in the Rails community. Rails is so opinionated, in fact, that a number of its developers have gained some notoriety just for holding their ground. The byproduct of all this friction is people like me: flakes who have trouble sticking to an opinion, or what I like to call “software subjectivists.” This Ignite talk is about the psychology of firm convictions (especially as it pertains to our industry), why we should have them, and most importantly, how to express them - reasonably or otherwise.

1. The test of a first rate
intelligence is the ability to
hold two opposed ideas in the
mind at the same 7me, and
s7ll retain the ability to
func7on.
F.
Sco'
Fitzgerald

2. The test of a first rate
intelligence is the ability to
hold two opposed ideas in the
mind at the same 7me, and
s7ll retain the ability to
func7on.
F.
Sco'
Fitzgerald

7. CouchDB
relax

9. gem
which
dm-­‐core

13. S1ck
to
logos.

14. deadpool:awesome-­‐project
flip$
rake
spec
(in
/Users/flip/Code/awesome-­‐project)
...............................................................
Finished
in
0.272579
seconds
63
examples,
0
failures
deadpool:awesome-­‐project
flip$
Let
Ethos
speak
for
itself.

15. Avoid
pathos.

17. Ques1on
authority

20. Github: h'p://github.com/flipsasser
Homepage: h'p://x451.com
Twi'er: @flipsasser
E-­‐mail: flip@intridea.com