Why the fuck do people go to so much trouble to justify what they did instead of just admitting they were wrong?

The way I handle this type of people is to first ask a straightforward like "X implies Y, right?" If they answer "yes" I say "then this here isn't right" and watch them go around the world to find a justification for it not being wrong.

Before someone throws this at me, I know that sometimes programming decisions depend on context/domain, but in that case they should answer "it depends" or "usually yes" to my first question.

We call that monster Egosaurus

on the other hand, I have a colleague who always says "but probably I just know less about it" and it works. it makes me re-evaluate my own work and decisions every time.

I think the fact that he, as my senior more or less, puts his ego out of the way first makes me do it too. it's an interesting way of working, definitely more pleasant than the hard rational way. funny things those people skills.

@balte I try to use that approach as much as possible.

Sometimes it's hard, like when I'm tired/irritated, but I try to take a deep breath and remember that I make mistakes.

My senior dev in a nutshell

@balte That is what I do.
I admit I don't know everything, then delve into the question with them so we both learn. It works well.