It may be that believing what we hear / see is an evolutionary survival trait, a built-in cognitive default. I think this because the young of ancient humans had a FAR better chance of survival if they believed their elders. Examples: don't play in those woods or you may get eaten; don't eat THOSE pretty berries or you will get sick and maybe die; here is how you hunt or harvest food; and so on.
It is hard to overcome this natural tendency, and without education and effort and a wide variety of sources one can be pretty easily deceived and brainwashed.
I would think that depends on the type of commercial software - if, for example, it's used in a large bank where faulty software could screw up a few million customer accounts - anyone who rolls the dice with that will soon be jobless. THAT software (application, OS, utilities, etc.) is usually VERY well tested.
Nice article, but from the viewpoint of an Ancient IBM Mainframer, I wonder how ANYONE can become really expert?? The mainframe ecosystem was created to solve one major problem - stability. Up to that time, upgrading one's computer system meant rewriting the application software - simply untenable for organizations with ever-growing libraries of critical applications. It also allowed the upgrading and addition of new software (application and operating system) and hardware with minimal impact on existing software. This relative stability allowed competent (but non-genius) folks to become real experts.
When I see the current hurricane of ever-new and ever changing (evolving?!) software, the need to use an endless variety of differing products and technologies (including many libraries one has no control over), and endless discussions about the subtle differences and advantages and disadvantages of these competing / cooperating technologies....
How can anyone become really expert? How many can even become the fabled "full-stack" developer??
To me this really does not seem fair to the developer, especially those in smaller shops, where the developer almost seems to have to perform as a "full-stack" developer, whether they are or not.
Just my 2 cents - I hope my impressions are wrong, but the app dev world sure seems scary!
It is hard to overcome this natural tendency, and without education and effort and a wide variety of sources one can be pretty easily deceived and brainwashed.