Isn't it like people thinking that a novelist is literally a writer? And might be willing to write a novel based on their ideas if they share the profits with him/her?
I don't mean this as a dig, honestly I don't, but if you're walking around life getting offended by things as small as that you should probably re-evaluate some things. Getting offended by something, at its root, is just a way to make people feel bad. Either just you (if the person meant to offend you) or you and the other person (if they didn't). Either way, it causes nothing but pain.
That's ok because it's an emotion with purpose in that it drives you to act. I am offended by the conditions in many African countries so I donate to those charities. I am offended by the jokes that person is telling so I don't hang around them anymore.
But if you are getting offended at something like this, where no action can fix it, than you're just causing yourself undue pain.
I am a programmer and I want to be one. Unlike "web designer", this is the first time I've come across negative feelings to the term "programmer" and I can't really see why (if you want to insult a programmer call them a code monkey).
It sounds like you are inventing ways to put yourself above other people. There is no title that guarantees that you do good work. Ovid was a writer, Tolstoy was a writer, James Joyce was a writer, Thomas Pynchon is a writer, and none of them would be offended to be called a writer, even though there are multitudes of talentless scribblers who have never completed a novel (and many talentless scribblers who have completed novels -- so I'm not sure why "novelist" is any better than "writer.")
So why should you be offended at being called a programmer? There are people ignorant enough to think that "programmer" places an upper bound on your talent and accomplishments, but there are also people ignorant enough to think that writing is an easy task that requires no talent. If you want to impress such people, allow me to suggest that you rely on your clothes and hairstyle and just be vague about what you do for a living. Such people will be even more impressed if they think you do nothing at all.
Most people outside of the tech industry have no more idea of what I do other than "he works with computers." I've long since given up trying to explain it to them.
It is really too bad. I get the same thing, but it is mostly from people who don't use computers. If they use computers, they can at least get to the fact that I write mumbo jumbo that makes the computer do something.
Not at all. I think about the end of The Fountainhead, when Roark's accomplishment is symbolized by the sign that says "Howard Roark: Architect," and I think about what that sign would read for me. I've never come up with anything better than Programmer - better in the sense that it conveys what I do in a way that people understand. Anyone who understands deeply enough to care about the distinction will probably dig deeper anyway.
It's not entirely their fault. There are people after all who write code for money. So it's not too much of a stretch to think they might be willing to write code if you share with them any resulting profits.
How many people would be willing to write a novel based on your ideas for money? How many would be willing to write a novel based on your ideas for a share of profits?
That's ok because it's an emotion with purpose in that it drives you to act. I am offended by the conditions in many African countries so I donate to those charities. I am offended by the jokes that person is telling so I don't hang around them anymore.
But if you are getting offended at something like this, where no action can fix it, than you're just causing yourself undue pain.