[time-nuts] Releasing sources (was Re: Brooks Shera)

Todd F. Carney / K7TFC k7tfc at arrl.net
Sun Mar 31 16:40:19 EDT 2013


On Mar 31, 2013, at 11:32 AM, Lizeth Norman <normanlizeth at gmail.com> wrote:
> > All u guys that post code to push up your little ego and then don't help
> > when it sucks need to see a shrink.

*and*

On Sun, Mar 31, 2013 at 1:11 PM, Scott McGrath <scmcgrath at gmail.com> wrote:
>  [This] [h]as nothing to do with ego boosting has more to do with paying
it forward
> for all the snippets of code and diagrams we used in the past to jump
start
> our own efforts

*I do not think motivation can be reduced simple categories such as "ego"
or "paying it forward." Both are parts of human nature, and both (and
actually many more, e.g., faith, hope, and charity), in various
proportions, make good things happen in the World. No one has to be totally
selfless to do Good, and no one (or very very few) is really driven only by
ego. *
*
*
*Some do good work and give it away, perhaps unconsciously hoping for some
*recognition* and maybe even some *praise.* Those are two very basic and
very understandable human needs, except for a sociopath. Similarly, because
humans are *social* animals, they also have needs, however sometimes
suppressed, to *add value* to the lives of others. Egoistic impulses are
not bad *per se*, any more than the desire for *power* is by itself bad.
Without *power*, nothing can be accomplished, for good or bad. Likewise,
though unrestrained ego--"self will run riot"--is a social nuisance and
sometimes a danger, ego itself is what makes people get up in the morning. *
*
*
*It is, therefore, sometimes more important to look to outcomes rather than
motivations. From a practical standpoint, it matters vastly more that Good
is done than that some superhuman purity of motive is behind it. This is
well demonstrated in the Open Source hardware, software, and knowledge
movements.   *
*
*
*73,*
*
*
*Todd*
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