[TUHS] SNOBOL and RATSNO

[Tom Teixeira]

On 8/9/22 2:49 PM, Larry McVoy wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 09, 2022 at 01:42:32PM -0400, Noel Chiappa wrote:
>>      > From: Rob Pike
>>
>>      > I still marvel at the productivity and precision of his generatio
>>
>> We noticed the same thing happening in the IETF, as the number of people
>> working on networking went up. The explanation is really quite simple, once
>> you think about it a bit.
>>
>> If you have a very small group, it is quite possible to have a very high
>> level. (Not if it's selected randomly, of course; there has to be some
>> sorting function.) However, as the group gets much larger, it is
>> _necessarily_ much more 'average' in the skill/etc level of its members.
> I used to complain about this at Sun and was dryly told "We get it,
> Larry, you are yeast.  You need flour to make bread."
>
> And as time went on, I found that the smart people tended to find each
> other.  So it was fine.
>
> It is more fun when it is a highly curated group of smart people.  Made
> me work hard to keep up.

Put another way, "If you're always the smartest person in the room, 
you're spending your time in the wrong rooms."