While this is true, keeping a large project from getting ... err, decohesed and coupled, takes a lot of time as well. You will have less lines of code, but you'll definitely spend a lot more time than that first 1000 lines on a large project.
I don't understand what you mean by 'whether we trust them to decide what the public gets to know.' That's a question we're supposed to be asking the governments who have withheld this information, not the whistle blowers. Shifting the focus of these leaks to whether or not the whistle blowers should be hung or not is a great way to deflect focus from the actual things that were leaked. You'd think that a threat to the 4th amendment would register higher on people's radar, but the human interest piece is compelling.
Whether the information should have been leaked or not is an interesting question, but ultimately a 'what if' scenario. The important question is what we do with this information. Or, if you're the government, how to get the people to not care.
I thought I was the same way for a long time, but for me the kicker was 'left to my own devices' - I NEVER had anywhere near 8 hours consistently, so on the weekends, I would crash for more than 10 hours at least. My conclusion was that I needed more than 9 hours a day.
Then I went on a year long vacation - and after the first couple months of sleeping over 10 hours naturally - my body finally caught up with its sleep debt, and I was sleeping about 8 hours a day. I was amazed. Turns out I was just sleep deprived. Of course, I do know people who consistently get 9.5 hours day, so your mileage may vary. Just something to think about in this sleep deprived world.
I think saying 'a terrible work environment' is a bit of a stretch. The important part of criticism is that it's taken constructively - often it's best done between peers, but sometimes it's best done with (good) managers.
I think a key issue is that coworkers can be awesome workers, but HORRIBLE at critique. It's a skill that people aren't always good at. I know I could be better. A good manager will be great at this, and it's often best to let the best person at this do the talking. Managers can also be great as go betweens, and councillors for both sides, so that hatchets don't get buried directly into coworker skulls.
That's a pretty bold assumption. Maybe you have already read the political landscape of 10 years in the future, but to say that China already 'owns' Taiwan, especially comparing it to Hong Kong, which is only superficially similar, takes some big cojones. Like, Unbelievably big. I wouldn't make such bold statements without backing them with real facts, because at face value they seem a bit ridiculous.
I'm not sure if that's as efficient as sticking to the prescribed agenda, and having the non-agenda stuff taken offline / discussed after.
You don't have to schedule an entirely different meeting room to talk about it - more often than not at my work, the people who want to discuss the unexpected point just stay after the original meeting has ended to discuss it.
To everyone who was there for the agenda, the meeting is effectively over - for the others, you could say the meeting continues on with the unexpected topic.
The important part is that everyone meets for as short as is needed - they don't have to keep running in and out of meetings to see if things are relevant, or stay and listen to things that don't matter to them.
With modern day technology, shooting a ball in a hoop consistently or building a pyramid is easy. So why are Pro Sports and the Pyramids so amazing? Because they did it the hard way. I guess they could achieve the same thing if they lied, but if someone finds out, you are sol. See: Milli Vanilli
The traditional entertainment industry (movies, tv, and music) is very small. But put 'broadcasting', which is part of the 'information' industry, and it is comparable to the tech industry. Add in the fact that media companies are vital to politicians, and the result is an industry that punches orders of magnitude above its weight.
You know how a car works? How a plane works? How a nuclear generator, water purification plant, and skyscraper construction works? I can't speak for anyone else, but I can only know so much. For the rest of mankind's knowledge, I rely on the rest of mankind. It's worked out pretty well so far.
