> because it's going to take you several hours to persuade them that you do in fact know how to do your job

Never, ever argue about the person! When arguing with programmers you should only argue about the technical side. For them it's not about prestige, it's about making a perfect system.

  X+Y=3 because I know math (wrong)
  X+Y=3 because X=1 and Y=2 (right)