Seems odd to filter for people who have time and inclination to seek out the job poster and complain that they’re stupid. I guess if you want argumentative detectives that’s good.
If I insert a joke into a job spec, I don’t want it to seem like I’m an idiot. I assume that any competent people I want to work with will value non-idiots and not want to work with idiots.
In this case you weren’t an idiot, but just testing people’s grit or honesty or whatnot. But I would just assume the spec was written by an oblivious HR person who, at best, or perhaps an oblivious hiring manager. So I would have only applied if I really needed the money.
There is a difference between being argumentative and being a person to question things.
Let me give you an example. I am a pilot and I was flying to Long Beach a few weeks back. It was morning with a low marine layer so there was only one option - ILS 30. The controller was doing a harD job of merging small planes like myself and big iron (Southwest, Delta, etc) going to the same runway. The Cessna in front of me got vectors (and accepted!) to fly 10 miles into the ocean for spacing. When I heard it on the radio my first thought the was “their engine quits and they better know how to swim”. When controller asked me to follow that Cessna, my reply was “unable, don’t have my swimsuit today, but I can do left or right 360 for spacing”. The Cessna pilot accepted controllers directions without asking any questions putting himself and passengers at risk. Very few software engineers face life or death decisions, but I still like people who ask questions ;)
If I insert a joke into a job spec, I don’t want it to seem like I’m an idiot. I assume that any competent people I want to work with will value non-idiots and not want to work with idiots.
In this case you weren’t an idiot, but just testing people’s grit or honesty or whatnot. But I would just assume the spec was written by an oblivious HR person who, at best, or perhaps an oblivious hiring manager. So I would have only applied if I really needed the money.