Ask HN: Let's say I'm not as smart as I think, how do I stop acting stupid?

Let's suppose I have been very stupid. How do I fix it?

What does it look like in the path afterward?

Is there even a path, at all?

I've been told software engineers are full of themselves (even Perplexity confirms there is a reputation of being "pretentious and arrogant"...) So I think this is very related. Don't we have the responsibility of "fixing" our community from this defect? How can we heal ourselves?

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-it-true-software-engineers-ahvBDBHeQUmIkSdDCzIz_g#1

Have a laugh... They say that even in HN's inner circle, it gets more and more pretentious than ordinary engineers... the more we reach the epicenter... Which might just be me? I'll take the blame...

We are, broadly speaking, not special; just lucky to get paid to solve puzzles that happen to have some value in the current socioeconomic configuration.

or you're a man focused on society where your individuality is forced to take shape around it

it's high agency vs low agency people, anon. pick your side.

We all need to be as well-grounded as we can, and that takes enough effort itself.

When you try to act smarter than you are, about the only way to have a chance is to act different than you are.

I think it's pretty common when that's going on the chances are about 50:50 that you may look smarter or you may look stupider.

The best way to come out undamaged is sometimes not to play the game at all . . .