I like programmers who are smart and bring their inventive ideas to the company. That may include some healthy arguments at times as well. That's not the same as somebody who's constantly combative and seems to have no clue that we need to keep the company running in order to continue receiving paychecks. The later is also the type of person who rudely walks out on an interview. No thanks.
You have broken the world into two groups: healthy arguments and constantly combative. But there is no hard criterion to separate the two. And you spuriously assign anyone to 'constantly combative' who cuts an interview short, when this doesn't at all mean that someone has no clue and likes fighting for no reason.
So consider the possibility that you are assigning people to 'constantly combative' when you simply don't like their smart and inventive ideas and healthy arguments. Perhaps one healthy argument too far hurts your ego and becomes 'constant combat' without being any less healthy in reality.
That incentive structure is all it takes to make a whole dept. or whole company act in an essentially delusional and inwardly-focused way.
