As a software engineer, it is impossible to ignore the strangeness of the current moment. On one hand, the new generation of language models are genuinely useful tools. I use them myself to get a head start on boilerplate code, to brainstorm solutions to tricky logic problems, or to rephrase documentation. They are a legitimate, if incremental, step forward in developer productivity. But on the other hand, a bizarre and unsustainable culture has sprung up around this technology. It has become le...