I agree that it is good to exercise humility. Even smart people can make mistakes and it is much better to be humble of your own volition than to have it forced upon you by others. I always try to be humble, though sometimes it can become an obstacle, like being too conservative of your abilities when on an interview. It is a balancing act with parameters set by the context of the situation. Being humble does not mean you cannot also be smart. In fact, it is much better when the one tooting your horn is not you, but someone else. :)

This reminds me of a term from psychology, overcompensation. If you act unsure and feel the need to prove it, maybe you're not. Also, don't tell me. Show me. Part of being smart is knowing the value of humility.

I, too, like those referred to in the last paragraph of section 'A' in your comment. It is good to be around those who are smart. It is made better when they do not feel the need to prove it. This combination is certainly rare. My wife would probably say I fit into this category. I certainly don't claim to. I let others choose their own labels for me.

I have since realized in the decade since university that, frankly, I am smarter. It's not an elitism thing. It's not a holier-than-thou thing. It's a frank acceptance of the reality that my mental muscles are bigger than most people. They're not the biggest in the world, just bigger than most around me. It's like my next-door neighbor who works out a lot. He is really big. He's not the biggest guy in the world, just on our block. There's a 100 people on our block, which makes him bigger than 99% of the world (roughly).

Laziness, Impatience, and Hubris. Those aren't tongue-in-cheek virtues; those are actual real virtues to be embraced. False humility is worse than hubris.

Those aren't tongue-in-cheek virtues; those are actual real virtues to be embraced.

Right, but those are programmers virtues. Social virtues as I was taught them are the opposite:

  programmer <-> social
--------------------------
    laziness <-> diligence
  impatience <-> patience
    hubris   <-> humility
[download]

Each computer is an oscillating amalgam of thoughts of thousands of programmers, and in that realm, there's real darwinism: the thoughts that best fit survive.

The roles don't mix; it is ok to be a bastard towards programs (and thus towards thoughts of somebody), call them a pile of sh1t and mercilessly incriminate the slightest fault; but it's not ok to be a BOFH to your users; it is not ok to deal out personal attacks against programmers ¹⁾ - much like it's not ok for the biggest guy on the block to punch you out of his way because he can.

So it is all about what real world it is at each time. The computing world isn't less real than the so-called real world - someone did it, then it's there. They are just different. People who get pissed off if they're called a dumbhead in programming context are mixing oil and water. Hubris isn't a social virtue, at all.

1) I think there's the reason why Abigail-II left

--shmem

_($_=" "x(1<<5)."?\n".q·/)Oo.  G°\        /
                              /\_¯/(q    /
----------------------------  \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."·
");sub _{s./.($e="'Itrs `mnsgdq Gdbj O`qkdq")=~y/"-y/#-z/;$e.e && print}

Interesting matrix. Though, I never said hubris was a social virtue nor do I think it is. I am emphasizing that programmers tend to prioritize "programmer virtues" over "social virtues". So, if you're interfacing with a programmer within the context of a programmer forum, you shouldn't be surprised (or shocked or offended) if you get a response that prioritized programmer virtues over social ones.

---

My criteria for good software:

1. Does it work?
2. Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?

Speaking as one who’s abilities lie in the of middle of the Bell Curve
I can forgive to some extent the lack of social graces and arrogance that some intellectual heavyweights display (even though they should know better) but only if they can deliver.
Many pseudo-intellectuals think that they are in the genius category
But “when push comes to shove” are unable to deliver the goods and us lesser mortals are left to pick up the pieces.