I agree. Much of that attitude is also pompous.

Engineering should be about taking complex things and making them simple and easy (the best engineers do this), on the other hand you have engineers that try to add complexity because they understand something and over engineer it to obscure it on some premature optimization or cool factor. Taking something simple and making it more complex is the epitome of bad engineering.

Cool is useful and useful is simple or at least simple parts. Keep entry to technology simple, just like good games are simple to start, deeper in it gets more difficult. The door should be easy to enter even though the labyrinth might be immense.