&gt; Because the kook that refuses to explain merge sort might be better at the job than the guy who desperatly jumps through hoops.<p>Who cares if the kook is better if the other one is good enough?  At some point, &quot;better&quot; hits diminishing returns and is no longer worth it.  It&#x27;s the reason &quot;we only hire the top X%&quot; attitude is wasteful bullshit for most companies.