Right? I came to the comment section to post something I found funny in the introduction... but I'm afraid people will get offended by it now.
"If you are reading this book and flipping out at every third sentence because you feel I'm insulting your intelligence, then I have three points of advice for you:
1.Stop reading my book. I didn't write it for you. I wrote it for people who don't already know everything.
2.Empty before you fill. You will have a hard time learning from someone with more knowledge if you already know everything.
3.Go learn Lisp. I hear people who know everything really like Lisp."
This thread is proof that programmer types need their share of celebrity gossip as much as anyone :)
"That Zed Shaw. He's abrasive, but is he too abrasive? Tune in to our panel discussion to find out!"