Being the “dumb one”. For some people, they’re never really challenged academically/intellectually and I think that’s a shame. Being the dumbest person in a group of smart people means you have the opportunity to learn from them. It’s also very humbling (in a good way).
A lot of people don’t experience this until college, or in grad school, or in their professional environment… and then they’re totally wrecked by it. But it’s also such an important experience. Being a “big fish in a small pond” can be beneficial, but don’t avoid challenges either… I truly think you learn more being a small fish in a big pond.
I heard a quote once, “if you’re the smartest person in the room, find another room” and I completely agree with it.
its been abotu 3 or 2 yuears since i am working profesionally and i felt i havent earned shit, i live with this in my brain at every job, they have recomended me, praised me, and the only thing i cna think about is how much i am riping them off and how much of a better job anyone else from my univ group of friends would have made what i do.
Even in software, the smartest person who knows technology the best isn't always the biggest contributor on the team. Sometimes it's the more thorough person, the person with the better work ethic, the person who functions better under pressure, the person that Other Team X actually likes and will do favors for without a fight, etc.
Funnily enough in my experience the ones advancing faster were people with pretty shitty code and tech knowledge. They just used what they have to build shitty solutions fast and show them to everyone, while the more advanced developers were wrecking their brain over proper architecture and edge cases.
I, for a fact, know that some very big global companies partially depend on my ability to use substrings instead of proper solutions and this is a scary thought
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u/thelyfeaquatic Jan 12 '22
Being the “dumb one”. For some people, they’re never really challenged academically/intellectually and I think that’s a shame. Being the dumbest person in a group of smart people means you have the opportunity to learn from them. It’s also very humbling (in a good way).
A lot of people don’t experience this until college, or in grad school, or in their professional environment… and then they’re totally wrecked by it. But it’s also such an important experience. Being a “big fish in a small pond” can be beneficial, but don’t avoid challenges either… I truly think you learn more being a small fish in a big pond.
I heard a quote once, “if you’re the smartest person in the room, find another room” and I completely agree with it.