On 2012-05-16 16:25:49 (+0000), Jim Henderson
Part of the reason for that is, I think, something I personally refer to as "SME syndrome" (SME = Subject Matter Expert). When one knows something well enough to the point of it being second nature, one tends to think there's nothing special about the skills and/or knowledge involved.
I've seen countless SMEs who have very poor self-esteem because they think "anyone could learn this".
Of course, that's not a ubiquitous thing, either. I've also seen plenty of SMEs who are rightfully (and wrongfully - usually because they're not the SME they think they are) very proud of their achievements. :)
No need to invent a new term, there is one already :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect But one can add a lot of other factors that come into play as well, such as cultural differences (germanic vs latin, to oversimplify -- plays a huge role but discussing that would inevitably end up in a neverending thread), and/or for example having some who see communicating and "bragging" about achievements and activity as "unnecessary" or "bad" [1]. Some cultures cultivate the myth of success having to come out of a group and dispise individuals who stand out, other cultures do the exact opposite and value the genius of individuals. What would often help tremendously is to accept that opinions and wording are highly depending on cultural factors. Obviously we always read and understand everything with our own cultural filter. That often leads to misunderstandings, bashing, disrespect, frustration, etc... Actually it does every single day, including in this project. I'd say at least in one out of three emails. If we want to improve our communication (I mean the communication between the people who care and contribute to the project), that is definitely one thing we should become more conscious of, i.e. before we start an argument, pause and think whether it isn't just a different understanding or background. Not that easy to do though :) Another aspect that helps to understand many reactions, opinions and disagreements is "people who are afraid of change" (aka conservatism) vs "people who embrace change" -- that's an oversimplification of course. Sounds like a lot of BS? I used to think so too. If you believe it's just a load of ...., then you're probably a [1] :) And if you understand German and think I'm just babbling nonsense, who am I to talk about stuff like that anyway, check this out: http://youtu.be/QxtDdEMp9w4 (Gunter Dueck, Psychologie des Wandels / psychology of change) cheers -- -o) Pascal Bleser /\\ http://opensuse.org -- we haz green _\_v http://fosdem.org -- we haz conf