Comment by zoogeny

It is a good point that the final sentence could be taken negatively.

I wasn't trying to determine why any individual might choose such a path. I was thinking about the population of programmers and considering that the stereotypical traits associated with that population do seem to align with a set of traits that are conducive to hermit-like or even brotherhood-like lifestyles. I did choose negative-sounding stereotypical traits to highlight that fact (although introversion isn't necessarily negative).

I would even argue that my own experience is that the population of programmers on average tend towards self-reliance type mindsets (e.g. Henry David Thoreau) a little bit more than socially active mindsets. However, I personally know a few individuals who are social activist types and also programmers.

Even when you consider "brotherhoods" you can think of multiple reasons why someone might want to join up. Perhaps the person desires a community of like-minded activists. In fact, that is how many brotherhoods would grow after their establishment. Combating the "incursion" of these community building types in some traditions appears to be a feature (e.g. vows of silence). I remember watching a documentary on splits in these communities for this very reason. Some hermits felt that structured communities with explicit charters went against everything they were trying to do (usually some kind of mystic communion with God or similar). So you can imagine a bifurcation of such a community into those who wanted to be socially active communities and those who wanted just enough collaboration with others to allow them as much individual freedom as possible.

I don't believe that one of those groups was "positive" and the other "negative". But I do think it is worthwhile recognizing the difference in mindsets. You said "ideally also have others enmeshed in their questing too" - however, that is not a universal ideal. Be careful you aren't forcing yourself into spaces where that isn't the goal.