The Codeless Code: Case 106 The "I" In Team
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A certain monk was known throughout the Temple for his
humility. When discussing flaws in his clan’s software he
always took personal responsibility, yet when receiving
praise for marvelous features crafted by him alone, he
always gave credit to the entire team. Eventually word of
the monk came to old Jinyu, Abbess Over All Clans And
Concerns.
“So,” she said to her chief abbot, “this monk says I failed
after the defeats of others, and we triumphed after his own
victories?”
“So it is said throughout the Temple,” said the abbot.
“Bring him to me,” commanded Jinyu.
When this was done, Jinyu surprised all in attendance by
striking the monk with her cane and sentencing him to thirty
days’ hard labor in the data mines. After the stunned monk
had been taken away the abbot nervously approached Jinyu to
inquire the reason.
Jinyu struck the abbot. “Fool! Consider the monk’s
algorithm. When he says I failed, what is most probably the
truth?”
“That others have failed,” said the abbot, flinching.
Jinyu struck him again. “And when the monk says we
triumphed, what does he most likely mean?”
“That victory was his alone,” said the abbot, wincing in
pain.
The ancient priestess twirled her cane overhead, so fast
that the very air whined in anguish, until with a
thunderclap she brought it down hard on the floor in front
of the terrified abbot. “The only thing praiseworthy about
this boastful monk is that he has mastered the art of
one-to-one mapping. Meanwhile, what am I to do with the rest
of you idiots? You were deceived by a simple substitution
cipher that your brains had already decoded.”
