You're a better engineer than you think • Hacker News Board

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#11

Post by eseehausen » Wed, Dec 09, 2015, 9:02 PM UTC

xyzzy4 wrote: post #2

Caring about how good of an engineer you are is just an exercise of narcissism anyways. The best engineers probably focus more on the external world and their projects than on themselves.

While that may be true for some, a number of highly effective people in various fields seem to have a sense of dissatisfaction that pushes them to do more. That sense can often apply to their own self-assessment.

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#12

Post by Zikes » Wed, Dec 09, 2015, 9:03 PM UTC

xyzzy4 wrote: post #2

Caring about how good of an engineer you are is just an exercise of narcissism anyways. The best engineers probably focus more on the external world and their projects than on themselves.

There's a world of difference between introspection and narcissism.

Being self-absorbed is a vice, but being aware of your limits and how best to push them is a virtue.

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#13

Post by Zikes » Wed, Dec 09, 2015, 9:06 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #10

[deleted]

While there's plenty of room to carry on the discussion of what should or does qualify as "engineering", I think that in this case it gets in the way of the primary discussion.

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#14

Post by fjdhxbdd » Wed, Dec 09, 2015, 9:09 PM UTC

All these webdevs calling themselves engineers is quite literally a criminal misrepresentation.

Downvote me to hell: it won't change the legal reality.

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#15

Post by sanderjd » Wed, Dec 09, 2015, 9:54 PM UTC

daveguy wrote: post #4

You're a better *software engineer than you think. Fixed that for you. I expect PE's need less affirmation after passing rigorous apprenticeship and evaluation.

This is actually pretty interesting. Maybe imposter syndrome is an inevitable side effect of our aversion to credentialism.

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#16

Post by andars » Wed, Dec 09, 2015, 10:05 PM UTC

Zikes wrote: post #13

[deleted] wrote: post #10

[deleted]

While there's plenty of room to carry on the discussion of what should or does qualify as "engineering", I think that in this case it gets in the way of the primary discussion.

You are right. I posted my initial reaction, but I realize now that it doesn't particularly matter here.

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#17

Post by wobbleblob » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 8:39 AM UTC

sanderjd wrote: post #15

daveguy wrote: post #4

You're a better *software engineer than you think. Fixed that for you. I expect PE's need less affirmation after passing rigorous apprenticeship and evaluation.

This is actually pretty interesting. Maybe imposter syndrome is an inevitable side effect of our aversion to credentialism.

Maybe imagining they have imposter syndrome is really another case of the Dunning–Kruger effect making the incompetent overestimate themselves :)

Re: You're a better engineer than you think

#18

Post by sanderjd » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 6:07 PM UTC

wobbleblob wrote: post #17

sanderjd wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually pretty interesting. Maybe imposter syndrome is an inevitable side effect of our aversion to credentialism.

Maybe imagining they have imposter syndrome is really another case of the Dunning–Kruger effect making the incompetent overestimate themselves :)

BOOM <- The sound of my head exploding. But yeah, I find this stuff really hard to navigate. Does having confidence mean I'm bad? Does fearing being bad mean I'm good? Best to just ignore all of it and go about one's business.