How about &quot;the experiment failed, your idea was a good hypothesis, better luck next time&quot;? Instead of &quot;you suck at SQL&quot;, how about &quot;you should probably read up on the difference between GIN and GIST indexes in Postgres and maybe try out window functions - they make this problem a lot easier to solve&quot;. It seems more productive to give people ways they can improve their skills rather than tearing them to shreds just for entertainment.<p>You can have an environment that is driven by good engineering (testing assumptions, measuring etc.) without people being outright insulting to one another. All it requires is, oh, minimal human empathy and a willingness to spend 10-15 minutes every so often explaining unfamiliar concepts to fellow team members who haven&#x27;t fully grasped it.