Harry Percival

If you've spent any time in technology, you will have come across the classic phenomenon of the unproductive technical debate -- and not just bikeshedding. Much of our technical debate seems to end up full of cognitive dissonance, ego, the cherry-picking of evidence, talking at cross purposes, and argument for its own sake.

This talk will attempt to diagnose the roots of this disfunction, and provide some pointers towards how to engage in more constructive dialogue.

Keywords: Torvalds, Socrates, Jonathan Haidt, Djangogirls, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.