I think you're right, but that the tone I read in your words would prevent people from improving.
Rather than "I'm so clever" it is more "this isn't complicated". One can argue they mean the same thing, but I'd say they mean different things if comparing to an outside scale. The solution to thinking you're so clever is to reduce your arrogance, but the solution to thinking problems are simple is to stop assuming any problem is simple.
My favorite incorrect fact is that there are 24 timezones. In fact, the number of offsets from UTC fluctuates throughout the year (at least last I worked on scheduling in 2012. Back then it was either 39 or 40 depending on DST)
DST rules are just insane. I'm responsible for some code where I just drew the line and 40 some odd people in one of the Antarctic stations are just going to have to live with wrong time part of the year if they ever run my code. I'm not adding another code path and test case just because these people wanted their own special concept of time. I don't remember the pattern, but I think it was maybe a daylight savings time and then an extra one stacked in the middle.
We have endless problems with DST as well. I can't wait for the EU directive that abolishes it. Russia dropped it years ago. We'll still have to support past times and other timezones though.
I just got a ruby gem from someone who actually made tables on the stuff. I made a script that cut out far past and future times to lower loading time from 10m to 30s and figured I could upgrade the gem to leverage an expert’s research as timezones changed (e.g. India changing zones)
Yeah I always feel like a jerk when people open tickets in the summer saying “Please do this at #:## EST” and I have to reply “thanks for providing a time but it’s currently EDT in NYC. Is that what you meant?”
In my experience, humans never say "New York time", or "San Francisco time", or anything like that, they say "EST" and "PST" regardless of whether daylight saving's is on.
I'm guilty of this too, since I can never remember which part of the year constitutes "on" and which is "off", only where the boundaries are. If I stop and think I can usually remember "spring ahead is turning it on", but never off the top of my head.
Yep. And there also small regions that observe daylights savings WITHIN regions that don’t observe daylight savings WITHIn regions that do observe it. For example, in Indiana it is on a per county basis[1].
The Navajo Nation is within Arizona's boundaries, and it does observe DST. And the Hopi Reservation is within the Navajo Nation, and it does not observe DST.
And since Arizona is surrounded by California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Mexico, all of which do observe DST, that means you have an island of no-DST (Hopi) inside an island of DST (Navajo) inside an island of no-DST (Arizona) inside an area of DST (adjoining US states plus Mexico).
We invented and then implemented time zones and then invented and then implemented daylight savings time; arbitrarily and with arbitrary laws and treaties.
There are days where I think I should go back to a mechanical watch and adjust the time each day at high noon. It won’t agree with anyone else’s time most of the time, but at least it will be correct.
but that the tone I read in your words would prevent people from improving
Are people really that fragile? Yes and no.
The solution to thinking you're so clever is to reduce your arrogance, but the solution to thinking problems are simple is to stop assuming any problem is simple.
Isn't humility the answer to both? Someone should develop a humility course for programmers involving an "ultra drone," writing the date/time library for it, and some simulated world test cases. Such "humility exercises" are found in various disciplines. There's one for CIA analysts, involving analyzing US Civil War sites via sat photos, then having them visit in person.
When you are thinking something is simple, and you say "Am I'm thinking I'm impressed with my own cleverness?" it's easy to say "no". Because it's not arrogant to think you can accomplish something simple.
When you are thinking something is simple, and you say "Am I assuming simplicity?" it's easy to say "yes".
Realizing you're committing the fallacy is the first step to avoiding it.
Rather than "I'm so clever" it is more "this isn't complicated". One can argue they mean the same thing, but I'd say they mean different things if comparing to an outside scale. The solution to thinking you're so clever is to reduce your arrogance, but the solution to thinking problems are simple is to stop assuming any problem is simple.