At his blog, Apenwarr, Google Fiber engineer Avery Pennarun is largely complimentary of Google and its employees: “I continue to be amazed at the overall smartness of people at this place. Overall, very nearly everybody, across the board, surprises or impresses me with how smart they are.”
However, Pennarun says, “Smart people have a problem, especially (although not only) when you put them in large groups. That problem is an ability to convincingly rationalize nearly anything.”
Because smart people, especially computer-oriented smart people, tend to be logic oriented, they always find a rationale to support any conclusion. They also tend to avoid the chaotic, random, messy reality of the world where results don’t fit neatly into logically rational outcomes, says Pennarun.