Block of Pride

To become a good developer or a programmer for that matter, being down-to-earth is important. The struggle to be the best amongst all has driven the student-kind crazy. The socio-institutional curriculum (as I say it) associates self-worth to the intellectual achievements. Hardly anyone realizes the depth of the notion of achievement. Learning something new, expanding our skill-set, working hard to achieve something which only a few could and the other “achievements” that we students adore are often taken for absolute superiority. Rather, these achievements should fuel further efforts to gain more knowledge and help others do the same. If a milestone is easily achieved, arrogance takes over and we start over-estimating our self-worth. I know this as I was a victim of this attitude for a long time. What changed?

The realization that self-worth is not measured by the certificates you get, but by the number of ‘Thank You Letters’ one can bag from the smiles of people we help. If one is fortunate to have achieved what others haven’t yet, one only achieves more by helping others do the same. I have seen pride intoxicating people with the notion that others are lesser and must ask for their help. Do all these comments sound obvious? Isn’t it what self-help articles have been telling us all the time? Yet, understanding the need of people surrounding us and realizing that no knowledge is absolute, is far more difficult than it seems. Why have I been emphasizing on the needs of a community? Does it really matter if one is full on oneself if one is self-sufficient? I have seen and experienced a phenomenon called the “Block of Pride”.

Being in the air makes us less receptive. It hinders our ability to ascertain direction in our plans. Pride goes on poisoning the channels of knowledge transfer in the community. It makes people think twice before speaking up to us. They are at a loss and we are at a greater loss. The moment we fall behind in the socio-institutional race, no one will be there to pick us up. Pride creates conflicts and conflicts break communities. If one person’s pride can disrupt not only the person’s own progress but also the knowledge transfer within a community, is the block of pride worth it? Should we as developers, as students, as community individuals, allow our unjustified pride to play spoilsport?

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Happy Coding!