Editing Magnifica Humanitas: A Plain-Language Overview (section)

=== Spiritedness gives us the courage to repair what is wrong ===

'''Spiritedness''' is the energy which makes a programmer care that something is broken, neglected, unjust, dangerous, wasteful, hostile to users, or needlessly difficult.

The Virtuous Programmer is not indifferent.

He may become angry when a system wastes people's time.

He may be dissatisfied when a project excludes newcomers unnecessarily.

He may care deeply when software treats users deceptively.

He may object when technical workers are expected to carry impossible workloads while being treated as interchangeable parts.

He may become frustrated when institutions place procedure above the people the procedure was intended to serve.

Properly ordered, this energy becomes the willingness to repair.

This also corresponds to the concern in ''Magnifica Humanitas'' that technological development be actively directed toward human flourishing rather than simply allowed to follow whatever incentives happen to dominate the market.

The opposite of impatience is not apathy.

The Virtuous Programmer should care enough to improve what is broken, but should do so with Patience, justice, and respect for other people.