[joske2]

I doubt that it has anything to do with technical proficiency. People like Steve Wozniak, Alan Kay, Tim Berners-Lee don't have the reputation of being assholes.

In general, sites like Hackernews or Stackoverflow wouldn't work at all if smart people couldn't handle answering basic questions without being jerks.

[dalore]

For every non-asshole, you can find an asshole with technical proficiency.

For every Steve Wozniak there is a Steve Jobs.

[kragen]

You're incorrectly implying that Steve Jobs is technically proficient. He's an electronics technician and a cult leader, not a hacker.