Madrigal

Given that Microsoft’s own people are publicly using the phrase “Garbage In, Garbage Amplified”, perhaps garbage amplifiers is a suitable term for these products.

Two data points: What their intern could do with React; what their intern couldn’t do with React.

They’re right, except for one thing; once you know what to look for, these people are easy as hell to spot.

They’re drawn to power, in any form. They consolidate it. They build power systems around them. And they exploit it.

You can spot them because they’re the people who, somehow, the rules never apply to. There’s always an exception, a workaround, an excuse, a rationale, a condescending it’s more complicated than that, dear.

They’re the people who say the right things but never follow through. We’ll be fully transparent, followed by radio silence.

The ones who convince you to give them authority for a good cause. We should form a committee to establish some common principles, but it ends up being a committee of one, and the principles sufficiently vague to be twisted to work any way.

I think we have natural instincts for detecting these people, but we’re taught from an early age to suppress them. Never judge a book by its cover! Always give people the benefit of the doubt! Respect your elders! You just have trouble with authority!

We’ll never be free of these psychopaths until we learn to spot them, confront them, and prevent them from building and growing their power systems.

Ether