I know it's at least not uncommon for coding bootcamps to strongly encourage (or even require) students to reach out to practicing devs as a networking exercise. Maybe that's propagated beyond bootcamps now?

I field a few of these regularly, though not at the volume above.

Absolutely biological.

Say what you will about the 2014 RoboCop, but few things capture the existential terror of cybernetics like one particular scene in that movie... "holy christ, there's nothing left!" (Definitely look up that scene if you haven't seen it!)

Oh I'm a big fan of Will Larson's book too - I think you'll like it!

I think my reading list at the end of 2024 is now longer than it was at the start, but I really enjoyed The Staff Engineer's Path by Tanya Reilly.