When OSS architects meet the midwit meme

Have you ever tried to be one of the cool kids and have felt that eerie feeling that you’re going to get shown up for not actually being cool? In the business world we call it imposter syndrome…. but I’m already giving off strong hints about being completely uncool aren’t I?  …But let’s push on anyway.

I stumbled across the concept of the midwit meme whilst trapped down an X/Twitter rabbit hole recently. Naturally it immediately made me think of OSS (yes, again… rolls eyes). But I wasn’t really sure that I grasped the true interpretation of the midwit meme. I went searching for more examples. That just made me more confused. Either lots of other people were misinterpreting the satirical concept or I was just missing the point (a regular occurrence sadly)… Again, let’s push on anyway.

Have you heard of it? If not, here’s my interpretation of the midwit meme for right or wrong (cool or uncool):

Midwit memes attempt to satirise the behaviour or attitudes of individuals perceived to have moderate intelligence / IQ but who are trying to appear more intelligent than they are. These memes often depict a spectrum of intelligence where the majority of people are “midwits,” represented by being placed in the middle of a Bell Curve of IQ. But this majority are apparently missing the insights that both the less intelligent and the more highly intelligent individuals grasp.

In short – Midwits may overanalyse, contrasting with the simplicity of enlightened individuals and newbies.

At risk of being a midwit / imposter myself, here’s how I initially related the midwit meme to the world of OSS.

Let’s start by looking at the outer edges of the bell-curve.

Newbie: When I first started out in the world of OSS, I knew I was completely out of my depth, but after a year, I thought I had a pretty good handle on it and they were quite simple. These days, the more I know, the more I realise I don’t know.

Master: The most enlightened OSS architects / designers / developers I’ve worked with have an amazing ability to cut through the spaghetti-mess and make the complex seem incredibly simple.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in OSS, especially the ones from technical backgrounds, wear complexity as a badge of honour. They use it as a point of proof that they are of immense intelligence. And here’s the kicker – in almost all cases, they ARE of incredible intelligence. I’m proud to say that our industry is filled with people of insanely high intelligence / IQ levels…. BUT you’ll notice that the x-axis on the bell curve is OSS IQ score, not just IQ score.

However, many of the most unbelievably intelligent people I’ve worked alongside remain trapped in complexity. They may have an IQ of 145+, but don’t realise that they’re actually OSS midwits and their OSS IQ is stuck at sub-100.

Can you think of anyone in the OSS world who you know to be incredibly bright but you can barely understand anything they say, any code they write, any designs they create, etc? (please be kind and don’t highlight my midwit tendencies – it’s a bad habit that I’m desperately trying to break and continually try to push up into the world of the enlightened!!).

The “three forevers” of vendor / product selection is another clear example that the majority of people over-complexify. When you’re on the team creating a list of requirements to evaluate vendors against, there’s a feeling of pride in being able to think up many important features that the new solution “must” have. Before you know it, the dozens of contributing stakeholders have come up with a requirements list that’s almost as long and imposing as the Great Wall of China. Hats must be dipped to those stakeholders who have thought so deeply about their current and future tools to envisage a hugely comprehensive list of requirements. The question to ponder though is how many of those requirements will have a tangible impact on the success of the business.

In cases like this, suggestions from the OSS masters – the pragmatic, the practical, the simplified, the rules-of-thumb estimates, etc actually achieve better outcomes. They promote momentum rather than perfection (aka inertia). They promote intuitive tools rather than “completeness” in the same way the iPod did for music players.

“It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.”

Antoine de Saint Exupéry

What do you think? Does the midwit meme above resonate with your experiences in this industry?

What other examples have you seen where OSS masters have achieved simplification and enlightenment in a sea of complexity?

PS. The midwit meme could highlight an example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, where individuals with moderate knowledge / intelligence overestimate their own abilities and understanding!