Jon Pretty

Occasionally people have done things which have made me feel genuinely appreciated, and it's at once touching, humbling and encouraging, while each time taking me completely by surprise.

@ValentinKasas did it at @scalarconf. @Jorge__Galindo did it at @lambda_conf. @edmund_noble, @rolandkuhn and others made gestures at the end of @scalaworldconf. And there are many more, in many different ways, on numerous occasions. I notice each time, and won't ever forget it.

Showing appreciation to others, at all levels, in any community is one of the best things anyone can do to nurture a friendly, welcoming, encouraging, charitable and successful environment for everyone in that community.

The Scala community is the one I know best, and it is not without its problems, much like the language itself, but it's full of truly generous and kind people who I really believe want to make the world a better place, and they each have their own ideas about how best to do that.

But the intent is important, too. Some people thought what I said after @scalaworldconf last year was wrong, and criticised or even blocked me for it. And it hurts, a little—I can't pretend it doesn't—but we are, and should remain, a community of many diverse ideas. Encourage it!

And you should listen to those people who disagree with me, too. And likewise those who disagree with you. Take them at their word that they're working for the benefit of everyone, and don't mistake a difference of opinion about the means as a difference in opinion about the end.

Sometimes I have to suspend my instincts to see past that bluster, defensiveness, politics, arrogance and modesty, tone, history, cultural differences, and all sorts of other biases on their side and on mine. But what I almost always find beyond is good. Or at worst, misguided.