This is an interesting read, and while I support being nice to every_thing_ in principle. Most of the research into this actually shows that being mean yeilds better results
I've read the blurb from previous years about doing one-shots with threats of death, or etc - but I've never seen that for long many prompt sessions.
I wonder - if you hired a programmer for a day, trapped them in a cage, and then threatened them, maybe it would be more productive for a while. I mean, if I were writing that book, I could see how they would do great work for a bit.