Jeremy Grifski – The Renegade Coder

This week, I've been wrapping up grades for the semester, putting together reflections, and catching up on open-source code. As a result, I haven't had a ton of time to write. So, today I just put together a quick little rant about elitists in the field. Hope you enjoy it. The Power of Dreams The other night I was drifting in and out of sleep when I had a thought that I had to absolutely write down. Given that this was a half-lucid thought, it's probably garbage. Just looking at the title I came up with at the time is making me laugh, but it's nice to stray from my usual work. At any rate, I was thinking about the role gatekeepers and elitists play in the tech field. In general, I don't think there's much value in humoring these folks, but they have real negative consequences for members of our community just trying to learn and do honest work. Certainly, somewhere along the way, you've been looked down upon by some elitist in the field. For me, most of the negative pushback I've gotten in my work have come from internet commenters. In fact, I've dedicated any entire page to them. There have also been some folks in academia and industry that have made my life a bit harder. Making Sandwiches In one way or another, these experiences I've had culminated into a silly dream about gatekeeping menial tasks, like making yourself a sandwich. It would not surprise me if there's someone out there gatekeeping sandwiches. In my head, I was imagining some guy watching me make my usual ham sandwich. I grab two pieces of bread, slap some cheese and ham down, load it up with mustard, and call it a day. Sometimes (or rather most of the time), I like to put chips on my sandwich as well. The crunch is just phenomenal. Of course, in my dream, the critic doesn't have an issue with the chips. They actually have an issue with my process. They say something silly like, "making a sandwich isn't rocket science," before following it up with something like "your chips are going to get soggy if you put them on top of the mustard like that." Rocket Science All of this is sort of laughable, but it got me thinking about how elitists maintain their superiority. Think about it! What if you turned around and actually started talking rocket science with them? How would they handle that situation? Unlike the sandwich scenario where the elitist is able to critique your process, rocket science is nontrivial. So, how would you expect them to react if you rose to their supposed level? That's when the elitist employs their second trick: acting like you couldn't possibly know what you're talking about. See, the elitist employs these subtle tricks to keep their position in the hierarchy. They gatekeep new folks from the field by laughing at their questions and critiquing their processes. For the folks who move beyond the gatekeeping phase, the elitist resorts to berating and belittling. You cannot win. So what do you do? My advice: ignore them when possible. At first, this is going to be very hard to do, especially if the elitists are folks you respect (like a parent or friend) or if they hold some genuine power over you (like a teacher or boss). If you can manage to minimize the noise, I might then recommend finding more suitable mentors—folks that are going to support you and watch you grow. You absolutely belong in this field regardless of what folks say. And if none of this is possible, it's totally okay to walk. There is no shame in leaving the field on your own terms. Just don't give these elitists feel the satisfaction of watching you go. If this is something you're personally struggling with, please reach out to me. I want to make sure you feel like you're part of the space, or at least of a community in the space.