"you don't flatter technical people by complementing them; that just makes us feel weird"

Honestly it sounds like we are very nearly on the same page, though this quote is a bit odd to me. I don't think it's fair to define "technical people" by saying that compliments make them feel weird. I should point out that I'm not the one that has talked about flattering as a tactic.

I think we completely agree on having something interesting to talk about as a helpful quality.