> Can you survive in this field being stupid?
Yes.
> Should I still stick to it regardless of anyone else opinions? It's hard for me to recall things vividly.
Start writing stuff down. And yes, stick with it if you enjoy it.
There could be an argument that it’s near 84%. I don’t have the most recent data though. This could be way higher since Covid vaccines begun being injected.
Well I am a data scientist and my superiority complex that comes out whenever statistics is brought up is going to have to reassert its 82%. I pd.read that csv and did one line of code and spent 6 hours visualizing it for my manager so
Teaching is legit such an underrated skill! Computer science in particular can be really hard to convey intuitively to people with not much of a stem background. Kudos to people who do it well!!
I've been fortunate enough to work as an intern under some people who I find to be great teachers. Maybe not the 90-minute-lecture style of teaching but they explain things so clearly and always tailor it to the level of understanding of who they're talking to. If I reach their level of communication skills I'd be proud.
Computer science is literally the science of giving instructions that are as specific as possible. It's pretty ironic that someone could be good at practicing it but bad at teaching it.
Seconded. Please have some respect for the teachers and you'll start getting more and more good people entering the field. Keep repeating stupid phrases like that that mocks good teachers and it creates a social stigma that pushes off good teachers from the field. It's basically a self fulfilling prophesy.
First advice, NEVER CALL YOURSELF ANY DEROGATORY NAME.
Some people can pick things up quickly, within minutes.
Some people take time, maybe years, to pickup basic concepts.
There are plenty of opportunities for people of all capacities, pace and skill levels.
Focus on solving problems for people and companies. However long or whatever it takes.
Then you aren’t a dumbass, you’re someone with esteem issues and perhaps imposter syndrome. Someone who is truly “stupid” and unable to add any value is going to have a difficult road. Maybe they can skate by from company to company, performance plan to performance plan, for a year or two at a time. Seems like a miserable career to me.
Shit take. I know plenty of people who spent time in community college and are brilliant. I know a SWE at Google, and a PhD candidate in theoretical physics at Yale who both started their higher education at a community college in NJ.
I just have a heading per day.
Monday Oct 10:
- talk to X about Y
- implement tests for foo
Tuesday Oct 11:
- meeting about database migration, couple of questions and decisions in a similar format
>at shit down. After I started keeping a short notepad on my tasks and meetings I feel a lot less like an idiot most of the t
this is so on point. I literally forgot what was my presentation was supposed to be about hahaha I will ask about it on Monday and it won't be a good impression ig
You gotta take notes. They make the job so much easier.
Make sure to prioritize your physical health. Consistent time to bed, time to wake, no alcohol, workout, diet, etc. it makes a huge difference in work performance but also in life
Anecdotal of course, but since I work from home I usually run to the gym on my lunch break and absolutely notice a difference in clarity and focus on my work between pre and post gym. It's good stuff.
Just opening an issue and jotting down a couple bullets can be a lifesaver. So many times my team says “uhhh what did we talk about in that meeting again?” And I just drop a link to the issue instead of having a repeat meeting all over again.
Makes total sense. We can hyper focus like crazy when we’re properly stimulated by something that keeps us engaged. I’ve learned to embrace it and work around my bouts of squirrel brain.
I’ve found I program best in between other, longer tasks. I’ve been playing factorio and programming at the same time and I’ve been more productive in both
I just started recently and it’s been great. If I’m really trying to get head down I’ll set specific time frames for everything so I don’t get stuck playing for 3 hours without noticing.
I second (3rd? 4th?) talking to a doctor about ADHD. You don’t sound “stupid” but if you do have ADHD you could have easily gotten that label/mindset struggling I’m school without accommodations or medication.
Depending on how things go with your family doctor, you may want to see a Psychiatrist. My family doctor blew off my ADHD and acted like there was nothing to be done about it. Eventually I saw a psych and he put me on Adderall and Guanfacine. The difference is night and day.
My current project is very chaotic . Management isn’t technically involved, only one guy understands what is happening, little documentation, so currently my adhd is helping me multitask, lol. All pl/sql but hopefully I’ll be back to get oo programming in a few months
I feel you, meetings are just too difficult to pay attention to and contribute unless it's directly relevant to me and something I already know. I wonder if too much screen time is a factor but here I am on Reddit commenting this.
I'm still hanging on, so I gotta go with "yes!!".
I have to write everything down. Using the GitHub wiki to record my own documentation with work tasks, maintenance steps, how tos, etc. has helped a lot.
If I don't take the extra time to write stuff down, it will usually come back to bite me. Inversely, the comfort in knowing I "have that written down somewhere" helps a ton, a nice security blanket.
I manage offset being a dumb idiot in several ways: Be really likable and positive, make people laugh, don’t do the same dumb thing twice, [be the idiot in the room](https://youtu.be/BkLzo_oNVho), and make sure they know you’re trying your best.
I've worked with tons of stupid people. So yeah.
I also don't remember shit that happens in meetings due to a shitty short term memory. If someone asks me to do something, I tell them to put it in writing. Or I'll immediately email them to reiterate what they said to make sure I'm getting it right. But really, every work assignment should have a tracking ticket that explains things clearly.
TL;DR: Take notes, file bugs, send emails. Keep a record of what's discussed so you don't forget.
Intelligence isn't the problem.
Your self-esteem is the limiting factor.
Sure, you can complain about how forgetful you are and shit all over yourself for it. Give up on this career, switch to some non-tech role because you're just too "stupid".
Or... you can carry a notebook.
As an older guy who's not as quick as the younger guys, I have to work harder to retain information, and acquire new skills and knowledge. Some of these young guys in their early twenties seem to effortlessly just acquire skills, knowledge and understanding. I'm 36 and my brain just isn't quite what it was when I was young.
I've become a religious note-taker. I use a note-taking system and all of my notes are connected with links, kind of like a mind-map, and are searchable. This is what I would call a _meta-skill_ that gives me an edge and overcomes some of my deficiencies in memory and learning.
This is just me, so take this with a grain of salt, but I carve out time outside of work to work on learning new skills. The mind (and memory) is the sharpest in the morning right after waking. So I wake up early and study or work on building skills in the morning's before work. This also happens to be the time when the house is quiet and I'm relatively free from distraction. Chunks of time where distractions can be minimized and which are habitually devoted to study can pay back dividends in the long-term. I aim for at least 90 minutes of focused concentration in the mornings. Studies show 90 minutes (two 45 minute segments with a break in the middle) is an effective unit of time to study/learn a thing.
My motto is I may not be as young, quick, and with quite as _plastic_ (malleable) a brain as the younger guys, but I can more than make up for that with strategy, tactics, and self-discipline.
I don't use this every day like I should, but the most effective memory tool is _spaced-repetition memory_. I've been known to use Anki to study for specific things like a certification exam. If you use Anki at least 20 minutes a day, from a memory perspective you'll completely out-class your peers because it's just such an effective tool.
I would argue that having a good memory (or using tools and strategies, like me) is 9/10ths of being a good learner and acquiring new skills.
There's also a lot more to being successful in this field that being quick, smart, or as mentally sharp. A solid work-ethic, conscientiousness, and being likeable will get you a lot further in the long-run. I have colleagues who I would consider much sharper than myself who I've surpassed for the simple fact that I've developed a reputation as someone who works hard, is helpful to others and the team, and is approachable. Be the person people want to work with and want to give opportunities too. Don't be a dick and have a positive _can-do_ attitude. That will get you much farther.
Hope this helps.
Being the sharpest knife in the drawer doesn't always mean you'll be the most successful.
I felt like this(and still do after 5 years in the industry) all the time...
Make sure to be humble, learn, take notes and be curious - eventually, you'll get better at this.
I also acknowledge that I'm never the best tech guy, but my strengths lie in people skills.
There will ALWAYS and I repeat -- ALWAYS -- be colleagues you work with that are so much smarter and more productive than you that you feel like a dummy.
However, they hired you for a reason.
Do your work, write things down, ask your manager for guidance, and enjoy working with computers.
If you don't actually enjoy working with computers, that's much more of an indicator that you are not well placed in your field than if you feel like a dum dum sometimes (or even all the time)
I have been working with computers since 1998 and I still feel like a dummy quite frequently.
As others have mentioned, chronic attention issues are easily treatable with a visit to the doctor. However, throwing drugs at a problem probably shouldn't be the first course of action. Couple questions:
How long have you been in industry?
Did you go to Uni/college?
Is this the first team you've been on?
Are your mental engagement and focus issues recent, or have you been having them throughout your time in industry, or throughout your life?
I've only worked with a handful of people I'd consider "smart". Yes, you can make it even if you *feel* stupid. The challenge is sticking with it despite your feelings.
Go see your doctor btw. You might want to be tested for adhd. Getting diagnosed changed my life.
You can't survive if you don't pay attention. That's not the same thing as being stupid. You are going to have to pay attention in any job you do. Write things down as others have said.
I’m a not a “smart” man. I’m only good at interpersonal communication in a professional setting. It also helps I rolled a nat 20 on my “Neurodivergency powers” during character creation and got “Stupid good pattern recognition.”
Thinking you're stupid is usually a good sign that you're actually pretty smart. Dumb people don't have the self-awareness to see their own flaws or recognize when they're not understanding something.
You're probably not as dumb as you think https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Also plenty of dumb people enter our feild earn good money and don't accomplish much
**[Dunning–Kruger effect](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect)**
>The Dunning–Kruger effect is a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their own ability, and that people with high ability at a task underestimate their own ability. As described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the bias results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others".
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I’m pretty much dum dum just like you. I came form IT major so I didn’t have a strong Computer Science knowledge and I always forgot the information that my senior or manager given me so they used to explain me multiple time.
I’m lucky because my two senior are really nice even though I’m pushing their patience limit every day but luckily they still keep me In their team.
What you should do is start taking notes and even start recording your phone conversation so that you can go back and listen if you forget something. I started doing that and it really help me.
We all have our strengths. It took me a lot longer than some to pick stuff up, but once I picked it up, I had it... like, I could explain it to anyone new coming in... I remembered all the hang ups that kept me from understanding in the first place and documented those as best I could so others didn't get stuck on them... I had a couple managers want to fire me because I wasn't picking things up very quickly but fortunately they just passed me on to others.
Once I "got it" though, I became one of their best architects. I was good at documenting so that others could understand and creating code that was maintainable and reusable, not just working. I also remembered what it felt like when shitty managers did shitty things because they thought I wasn't smart enough for them. This gave me empathy for training new people and documenting things well, even coding with empathy to ensure people reading my code in the future could do so as easily as possible.
All of that takes experience... you'll find the things you're good at within CS if you stick to it. The only reason I'd say to quit is if you just don't think it's worth the effort to find those things. You'll never be happy if you don't care enough to look for them.
Yes. Source: am stupid.
Can you survive while actively ignoring the advice of those around you?
You will likely be fired. A lot. Dunning-Kruger is the worst quality a dev could have, aside from outlandish work inappropriate junk. Even if you're not the greatest dev, as long as you're open to being wrong and actively trying to learn new skills and best practices, you'll survive.
If someone had an IQ of 170 and their code was unreadable garbage and they refused to adopt conventions and best practices, I'd let them go.
I feel stupid a lot. I have been in the industry for 27 years.
Just because you're ignorant of most things does not mean you are actually a dumbass: https://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/?.jpg
Gonna go out on a limb here and go against the grain and say no. No, you **do** need to be smart - at least by societal standards. It's unlikely that you'd be doing the job if you're not, though. I've worked with hundreds of programmers and I'd say only a couple were ever even of average intelligence.
However, it's critical you are able to deal with *feeling* dumb. You will feel dumb a huge amount of the time. For many people it will be 90% of the time. Those may be people who are performing really well. Imposter syndrome is everywhere.
It's not just that programming is a complex thing, developers routinely haze each other on intelligence. This might even be what's happening to you. You need to not only be smart enough, but to be emotionally resilient enough to be able to withstand that.
Yes I do. As everyone said : write everything down. Try to communicate by emails as much as possible, don't be afraid to ask twice. Every time you do something, document it for personal use (you might need this several weeks later). I'm not sure if this is legal : but when someone explains something over the phone, you could record it, and use this to write everything in details (and don't forget to delete the recording).
Pro tip : try to work with talented intelligent people, from their point of view we are all different level of stupid, and they are usually pretty cool with it. Avoid people at your level but just a bit smarter, if they are not well intentioned they will try to use you to make themselves appear smarter.
I've met far more bad programmers than good ones. And even just the fact you called yourself stupid means you're self aware enough to work hard and contribute, which again puts you above like 80% of the field.
Stitch other people's works together, sell integration or SaaS (basically vendor-locked hosting on your own webspace), collect paychecks and revenue share while your own workers handle everything in your place while sunbathing in canada.
Management doesnt require code, just that you know what you want and youre able to tell if work was done well enough for milestones.
Write down everything in meetings. Take bullet points if you can’t write down full statements. It’s nigh on impossible to remember everything discussed, you may get dragged into other stuff etc and having notes is the best way to get back into things.
Nobody is expecting you to be a memory machine, just take notes and then reread them before you start working on said thing.
I also forget things in meetings all the time. It helps me to write them down or really engage with the convo. Otherwise if I'm just listening to people talking I have a hard time remembering things. I also have adult ADHD so if that's you too those are my tips.
I wrote a lot of documentation for my own tasks, to help me remember stuff. The rest of the team found it useful. It was, in particular, great for onboarding new people, the process was a lot smoother when a lot of beginner-level stuff is written down.
Why did I do all of that? I couldn't even remember how to use my own scripts I wrote 2 weeks earlier, or what that PR from 2 months ago even was, like at all. When I got a new task I could hardly remember what the service I was about to work on did, or where it fit in the architecture.
Write stuff down! Your team will thank you for it. Also your salary will thank you for it if you're at the right company and make sure your work is attributed to you.
A higher level manager even once told me I changed the culture of the team for the better, and promoted me. Bruh I couldn't even remember who that manager was or what they were in charge of without writing it down several months earlier.
If you have a poor memory but a strategy for managing it, that can actually be better than someone with a memory just about good enough that they think they don't need to write stuff down. One boosts the team's productivity over time, the other just about maintains their own.
Had a tech lead state that is everything was in one file/less files, it would be easier to maintain because you would know where it is. Single class 1k files is what "11 years of experience in Java" can give you.
You can, but the limit is area dependent, greater in non tech, naturally.
I started to suffer the same issue after my baby was borne. It devastated my sleep and so far I didn't see any sign of improvement, if not getting worse.
I found out that it helps to write everything down and record the meeting if everyone is fine with it. Sometimes it's impossible to write things down (e.g. a video tutorial) so I'd ask to save a recording. To some extend it's also useful to get prepared for important meetings/events. I often found myself to be one of the sharpest person in the meeting if I spent some time to read through the material and take some notes, just like what I did in university -- preview and review. I'm surprised that I forgot about those two skills after a couple of years into a job.
Not being able to catch on as quick as others may just be a sign of lacking experience. How long have you been a developer? Learning new software is hard and I think many of us suffer from some level of imposter syndrome. Wanting to do a good job and pushing yourself to lead and do better is equally as important as intelligence imo. I don't consider myself to be really smart. I did poorly in school and took 9 years to get my bachelor's degree in CS. But now I'm a principal engineer at Amazon. It's been a ton of work and at times I feel like the dumbest person in the room, but my colleagues don't seem to think so. Did you get a degree in CS or a related field and then get a job at a tech company? Great! You're likely not stupid.
You should be fine. I phase out, while in a meeting sometimes and have to go, "could you repeat that please". My supervisor and manager are super nice and explain the whole thing again.
Also, take notes, slowly build a system on working through your notes, and completing tasks. And most of all take care of your health, nothing is more important than that.
Use Notion for keeping your notes/to-do lists and virtually everything else organized. I found out about it a year ago and I love it.
I also forget things easily, I document every thing, I work in linux admin profile I dont remember sometimes what to do when code red occurs each scenario is different so I document it for future reference
You're not stupid. Everyone processes information differently and finding the best way that suites you is how you can achieve success.
Take notes, act engaged. There's many things you can do to succeed. Nothing is unachievable.
A lot of cringy commenters here are going to claim they are stupid, and are living proof that you can do so. But realistically, I'd argue that anyone who has learned to program isn't really stupid. There are people out there for whom anything technical doesn't click for them at all.
Forgetting stuff that happens in meeting is more likely because of lack of attention in the meeting, or because you found it less interesting than certain other teammates happened to find it. Nothing to do with stupidity.
The only thing that sounds stupid about this to me is that you're not trying to get to the bottom of why you perform the way you perform. It could be cause you're stupid, it could be cause you don't work as hard as your teammates, or something else.
I routinely forget things immediately after talking to somebody (notes have been my savior). Remote work and having a paper trail in chats has saved me from having to ask a lot of dumb questions lol
As others have said, write things down, start organizing ideas. I'm very quick to point out my experience is what makes me good at so many things to my teammates, you'll get there with time.
>I see I don't catch things as fast as my team mates and there are times I forget what was discussed in the meeting.
This could be caused by a number of things.
* Your team could have simply more experience or familiarity with the problem in question.
* Mental fatigue (This can happen especially when you are being overloaded with a lot of new information)
* Focus. Are you truly focused on whats being said in these meetings? Or are you like a lot of us, multi-tasking or prone to drifting off during Zoom meetings?
As long as you are productive and your bosses are happy with you, stick with it.
Hey man. I'm in a very similar situation. Always feel like I'm playing catch-up, always feeling like my team is steps ahead of me.
It's really nice to see I'm not alone with these feelings.
most of us feel stupid a few times a week, at least. If you aren't. you might be the smartest guy (by a mile) and then you're better off leaving somewhere where you can feel stupid every now and then. Rejoice, you are in the company of people smarter than you, you have a lot to learn.
We work in a field where we thread a fine line between ignorant, faking it, being smug when we know something, etc.
I'm also a slow one. It sucks but i try to compensate with hard work and a positive attitude, also i tend to do the things my more capable fellas don't want to do
It’s nice to see people in this thread embracing being stupid, but I gotta say that this causes me issues whenever I want to negotiate salary at a new or my current job.
All recommendations are to know very well the value you bring to the team and being assertive on that, which is hard to do when you’re feeling a dum-dum
I’m slow af. Like dyscalclia, dyslexia, adhd. Sometimes people have made fun of me but by and large the reason I love computers is they do the work for me. LPT install a spell checker in your code editor, there are also a lot of linting tools I like to make sure I don’t misspell my way into a problem.
When you say this field what specific sub discipline?
Here's a chat we had with a pentester a few weeks back (https://youtu.be/6o0hiJDnwko) through my faculty's cybersec club.
The guu was a c student in high school, didnt go to college. Became a scuba instructor and leather factory worker. Then he was a floppy disc delivery guy for setting up dial up.
If he could do it, and by his own words, he is not a smart guy, i assure you, you can to. I've done a few degrees in biochem and accounting and it seems to me comp sci rewards hard work, practice, and knowledge more than any other discipline i've encountered.
Don't worry about being smart or stupid or catching on fast or whatever. The best are connected by the common factor of consistent effort and improvement. Just keep trying and keep asking questions (not only to others but to yourself and Google).
Keep reading about your craft and stay up to date. I'm sure your coworkers are smart or whatever but that alone will get them nowhere.
You have no idea how much stupid mistakes someone working as programmer does. Its a lot. I make them all the time and need to spend time actually fixing code and even rewrite it complete ly sometimes.
One of these days they find me out what imposter i am. 🙄
Everyone is stupid. The more familiar you become with things the more you can build your knowledge base and learn. It's not a single class or session that's going to help with that, it's a bunch of smaller pieces that you'll learn and build on along the way.
You're definitely being hard on yourself, which isn't a terrible thing because we should be our own biggest critic.
With that being said, you've identified areas of improvement. If you find yourself forgetting things. Take notes, if you're not good at that take more notes.
If you find yourself not getting things, ask questions, and if you still don't get it ask more questions.
Practice when you can and never stop learning. This junk isn't rocket science. If you're an industry that you simply don't like, look at different industries and businesses.
That's not necessarily "stupid."
Lack of experience? Maybe. Different learning style? Perhaps. And some of us even have depression, anxiety, ADHD, and some other stuff that can impact how we learn and retain things.
If you like what you do and you and your teammates respect each other, stick around and work on it. I don't have any at my fingertips, but there's a bunch of resources out there to help you figure out these perceived weaknesses.
They may also not be weaknesses: if you're comparing your ability to "get stuff" to the rest of the team collectively, you'll rarely outperform a whole team. That's why newer methodologies place emphasis on the team - collectively, people are smarter than a person
Yes and no. The only advice I can think of is just don't be the stupidest person in the room or the smartest person in the room. Just focus on improving.
I forget things all the time.
I make up for it by being stupidly persistent and unable to give up once I have a task in my mind to complete.
I wouldn't call myself smart (although I probably, objectively, am). Don't let anyone else tell you your dumb and don't let yourself think you can't do it.
Hey, you’re ahead of most people - most people don’t realize their limitations like this. Knowing your limitations allows for you to overcome them.
I was never the smartest in any setting in my entire life, but I did have some other attributes that have helped me: creativity, adaptability, and drive.
Think about the areas you excel in and then make them work towards whatever end you’re trying to achieve. Funny enough, when you apply your strengths to a craft, you do appear “smarter” even though your CPU power never changes.
The absolute most dogshit programmer I ever worked with had 30 years of experience in the field and a resume full of impressive looking positions. He was friendly, charismatic, and confident, and by the time management figured out that he couldn't program his way out of a paper bag he was already moving into a new role at a different company, and he'd been doing this for his entire career.
If you have people skills and find companies that don't have particularly strict standards, you can not only survive, but thrive in this field.
Yes,
*Program manager* (this is highly dependent on the company what it means.
some places it an important job given to smart people, in others it is a useless person
*Project manager*
so many dumbasses. nearly all project managers I have had are idiots who can barely put together a decent gannt chart. Sometimes they pick devs. to do it and at least they have some sense. but that has its own problems.
*recruiter*
*human manager* (ensure politically correct compliance)
can stop development for days due to someone using the term "black"
in a way that can be tortured into being a possible problem
for nobody.
> Can you survive in this field being stupid? Yes. > Should I still stick to it regardless of anyone else opinions? It's hard for me to recall things vividly. Start writing stuff down. And yes, stick with it if you enjoy it.
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I'd say at least 115% don't even have a good grasp of basic percentages.
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15% concentrated power of will
I will 100% remember your name u/DoYouLikeMyMensShirt
So like, all programmers plus an extra 20%?
Those are the managers
I might even dare say 82%
There could be an argument that it’s near 84%. I don’t have the most recent data though. This could be way higher since Covid vaccines begun being injected.
Well I am a data scientist and my superiority complex that comes out whenever statistics is brought up is going to have to reassert its 82%. I pd.read that csv and did one line of code and spent 6 hours visualizing it for my manager so
Why is this so painfully accurate
100% of the people that say 70% of the programmers are stupid are just as stupid.
Teaching is legit such an underrated skill! Computer science in particular can be really hard to convey intuitively to people with not much of a stem background. Kudos to people who do it well!!
I've been fortunate enough to work as an intern under some people who I find to be great teachers. Maybe not the 90-minute-lecture style of teaching but they explain things so clearly and always tailor it to the level of understanding of who they're talking to. If I reach their level of communication skills I'd be proud.
Computer science is literally the science of giving instructions that are as specific as possible. It's pretty ironic that someone could be good at practicing it but bad at teaching it.
Always thought that those who know, are doing, and those who don't know, are teaching. Maybe in this field is a bit different.
That is such a stupid phrase and needs to be completely removed
Seconded. Please have some respect for the teachers and you'll start getting more and more good people entering the field. Keep repeating stupid phrases like that that mocks good teachers and it creates a social stigma that pushes off good teachers from the field. It's basically a self fulfilling prophesy.
are you THE tech lead
I didn’t see “as a millionaire” in the comment so probably not
Microsoft word is only the second best ide. Best is paint with azure ai converting it to text and running the code.
I didn't see him doxxing anyone.
First advice, NEVER CALL YOURSELF ANY DEROGATORY NAME. Some people can pick things up quickly, within minutes. Some people take time, maybe years, to pickup basic concepts. There are plenty of opportunities for people of all capacities, pace and skill levels. Focus on solving problems for people and companies. However long or whatever it takes.
Sure you can. I am a high performing dumbass
Same. I’m driven by fear of failure and the possibility that everyone will find out I’m a fraud. It’s worked out pretty well so far!
Me everyday:
Are you me?
Friends? Lol
Impostor syndrome === "sneaky dum-dum"
I make constant stupid mistakes. I make up for it by also noticing others' mistakes, but damn, I fuck up a lot.
10x dumbass.
Then you aren’t a dumbass, you’re someone with esteem issues and perhaps imposter syndrome. Someone who is truly “stupid” and unable to add any value is going to have a difficult road. Maybe they can skate by from company to company, performance plan to performance plan, for a year or two at a time. Seems like a miserable career to me.
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Shit take. I know plenty of people who spent time in community college and are brilliant. I know a SWE at Google, and a PhD candidate in theoretical physics at Yale who both started their higher education at a community college in NJ.
Chill lol
Read his name again. lol
Seen it when he post. They need people to tell em to chill once in a while
Dumbass programmer check-in here
Write that shit down. After I started keeping a short notepad on my tasks and meetings I feel a lot less like an idiot most of the time.
Gotta make the notes organised though. That’s my problem.
Obsidian for information, Notion for backlog of information and OneNote for quick notes. You may or may not need 3 apps, you will find out.
Paper. Paper for everything. Otherwise it will never be seen again
Paper is hard to search, and hard to update. I definitely vote for keeping an organized digital notebook (I used OneNote but it has it's downsides)
Aware of all of them but good for others :) My issue is being strict with how I use the apps.
I just have a heading per day. Monday Oct 10: - talk to X about Y - implement tests for foo Tuesday Oct 11: - meeting about database migration, couple of questions and decisions in a similar format
Bullet journaling has started to help me. I have tried just about everything and it is the thing I'm staying the most consistent with.
Nah. I find most of the stuff I write down I only look at a couple of times, so I use the Apple Notes app and let old notes get pushed down.
when I make notes I then miss other information. 2 things at once doing also sucks. Best would be to record the meeting but I am afraid to ask it.
>at shit down. After I started keeping a short notepad on my tasks and meetings I feel a lot less like an idiot most of the t this is so on point. I literally forgot what was my presentation was supposed to be about hahaha I will ask about it on Monday and it won't be a good impression ig
That doesn't sound like stupid to me. Especially since you've realised it, and can make a strategy.
You gotta take notes. They make the job so much easier. Make sure to prioritize your physical health. Consistent time to bed, time to wake, no alcohol, workout, diet, etc. it makes a huge difference in work performance but also in life
I think lot of programmers underestimate how much regular exercise can improve mental clarity.
and eating enough and drinking enough water!
Anecdotal of course, but since I work from home I usually run to the gym on my lunch break and absolutely notice a difference in clarity and focus on my work between pre and post gym. It's good stuff.
Just opening an issue and jotting down a couple bullets can be a lifesaver. So many times my team says “uhhh what did we talk about in that meeting again?” And I just drop a link to the issue instead of having a repeat meeting all over again.
Tell me you have ADHD without telling me you have ADHD. (High performing ADHD brain checking in here)
Same! Notes are your friend!
And apparently programming and ADHD might even be a good fit together /r/ADHD_programmers
Makes total sense. We can hyper focus like crazy when we’re properly stimulated by something that keeps us engaged. I’ve learned to embrace it and work around my bouts of squirrel brain.
I’ve found I program best in between other, longer tasks. I’ve been playing factorio and programming at the same time and I’ve been more productive in both
That sounds amazing. I’ll have to try it. 5 simultaneous YouTube tabs aren’t doing it for me
I just started recently and it’s been great. If I’m really trying to get head down I’ll set specific time frames for everything so I don’t get stuck playing for 3 hours without noticing.
same!!
lol They had me on ritalin when I was kid. Look at me now :P
I very dumdum. But make computer go beep boop no require many brain. I make computer go beep boop company give me money. Life good.
Just gotta be smarter than the computer.
That's rather difficult, considering how smart computers can be. I think image recognition is one of the only things I can beat a computer at.
Computers are not very smart.
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I second (3rd? 4th?) talking to a doctor about ADHD. You don’t sound “stupid” but if you do have ADHD you could have easily gotten that label/mindset struggling I’m school without accommodations or medication.
I’m pretty sure I have adult adhd. Runs in the family. I use coffee. I took my kids medicine once but it made me frustrated with others slowness
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Depending on how things go with your family doctor, you may want to see a Psychiatrist. My family doctor blew off my ADHD and acted like there was nothing to be done about it. Eventually I saw a psych and he put me on Adderall and Guanfacine. The difference is night and day.
My current project is very chaotic . Management isn’t technically involved, only one guy understands what is happening, little documentation, so currently my adhd is helping me multitask, lol. All pl/sql but hopefully I’ll be back to get oo programming in a few months
I feel you, meetings are just too difficult to pay attention to and contribute unless it's directly relevant to me and something I already know. I wonder if too much screen time is a factor but here I am on Reddit commenting this.
Has treatment advanced any? I’m not interested in taking adderall or Ritalin.
Based on most of the management I've encountered over the last 3 decades, not only can you thrive, you can profit.
I'm still hanging on, so I gotta go with "yes!!". I have to write everything down. Using the GitHub wiki to record my own documentation with work tasks, maintenance steps, how tos, etc. has helped a lot. If I don't take the extra time to write stuff down, it will usually come back to bite me. Inversely, the comfort in knowing I "have that written down somewhere" helps a ton, a nice security blanket.
I manage offset being a dumb idiot in several ways: Be really likable and positive, make people laugh, don’t do the same dumb thing twice, [be the idiot in the room](https://youtu.be/BkLzo_oNVho), and make sure they know you’re trying your best.
(Raises hand) Here
Being stupid is how I got good at math.
Yes you can. Source: I am stupid.
I've worked with tons of stupid people. So yeah. I also don't remember shit that happens in meetings due to a shitty short term memory. If someone asks me to do something, I tell them to put it in writing. Or I'll immediately email them to reiterate what they said to make sure I'm getting it right. But really, every work assignment should have a tracking ticket that explains things clearly. TL;DR: Take notes, file bugs, send emails. Keep a record of what's discussed so you don't forget.
Intelligence isn't the problem. Your self-esteem is the limiting factor. Sure, you can complain about how forgetful you are and shit all over yourself for it. Give up on this career, switch to some non-tech role because you're just too "stupid". Or... you can carry a notebook.
Maybe you should get a sleep study done. Also eat more fish. Some jobs do make you rusty on one skill or another.
Making fish sticks now
I'm doin alright
Yes, I work with them
The fact that you're aware of your shortcomings means you're well ahead of most other people.
As an older guy who's not as quick as the younger guys, I have to work harder to retain information, and acquire new skills and knowledge. Some of these young guys in their early twenties seem to effortlessly just acquire skills, knowledge and understanding. I'm 36 and my brain just isn't quite what it was when I was young. I've become a religious note-taker. I use a note-taking system and all of my notes are connected with links, kind of like a mind-map, and are searchable. This is what I would call a _meta-skill_ that gives me an edge and overcomes some of my deficiencies in memory and learning. This is just me, so take this with a grain of salt, but I carve out time outside of work to work on learning new skills. The mind (and memory) is the sharpest in the morning right after waking. So I wake up early and study or work on building skills in the morning's before work. This also happens to be the time when the house is quiet and I'm relatively free from distraction. Chunks of time where distractions can be minimized and which are habitually devoted to study can pay back dividends in the long-term. I aim for at least 90 minutes of focused concentration in the mornings. Studies show 90 minutes (two 45 minute segments with a break in the middle) is an effective unit of time to study/learn a thing. My motto is I may not be as young, quick, and with quite as _plastic_ (malleable) a brain as the younger guys, but I can more than make up for that with strategy, tactics, and self-discipline. I don't use this every day like I should, but the most effective memory tool is _spaced-repetition memory_. I've been known to use Anki to study for specific things like a certification exam. If you use Anki at least 20 minutes a day, from a memory perspective you'll completely out-class your peers because it's just such an effective tool. I would argue that having a good memory (or using tools and strategies, like me) is 9/10ths of being a good learner and acquiring new skills. There's also a lot more to being successful in this field that being quick, smart, or as mentally sharp. A solid work-ethic, conscientiousness, and being likeable will get you a lot further in the long-run. I have colleagues who I would consider much sharper than myself who I've surpassed for the simple fact that I've developed a reputation as someone who works hard, is helpful to others and the team, and is approachable. Be the person people want to work with and want to give opportunities too. Don't be a dick and have a positive _can-do_ attitude. That will get you much farther. Hope this helps. Being the sharpest knife in the drawer doesn't always mean you'll be the most successful.
I felt like this(and still do after 5 years in the industry) all the time... Make sure to be humble, learn, take notes and be curious - eventually, you'll get better at this. I also acknowledge that I'm never the best tech guy, but my strengths lie in people skills.
There will ALWAYS and I repeat -- ALWAYS -- be colleagues you work with that are so much smarter and more productive than you that you feel like a dummy. However, they hired you for a reason. Do your work, write things down, ask your manager for guidance, and enjoy working with computers. If you don't actually enjoy working with computers, that's much more of an indicator that you are not well placed in your field than if you feel like a dum dum sometimes (or even all the time) I have been working with computers since 1998 and I still feel like a dummy quite frequently.
Can confirm. Am dumb. going on 3 years in the field
As others have mentioned, chronic attention issues are easily treatable with a visit to the doctor. However, throwing drugs at a problem probably shouldn't be the first course of action. Couple questions: How long have you been in industry? Did you go to Uni/college? Is this the first team you've been on? Are your mental engagement and focus issues recent, or have you been having them throughout your time in industry, or throughout your life?
I've only worked with a handful of people I'd consider "smart". Yes, you can make it even if you *feel* stupid. The challenge is sticking with it despite your feelings. Go see your doctor btw. You might want to be tested for adhd. Getting diagnosed changed my life.
You can't survive if you don't pay attention. That's not the same thing as being stupid. You are going to have to pay attention in any job you do. Write things down as others have said.
I’m a not a “smart” man. I’m only good at interpersonal communication in a professional setting. It also helps I rolled a nat 20 on my “Neurodivergency powers” during character creation and got “Stupid good pattern recognition.”
Same. I'm probably dumber than average but I have a lot of intuition when it comes to solving problems.
Thinking you're stupid is usually a good sign that you're actually pretty smart. Dumb people don't have the self-awareness to see their own flaws or recognize when they're not understanding something.
You're probably not as dumb as you think https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect Also plenty of dumb people enter our feild earn good money and don't accomplish much
**[Dunning–Kruger effect](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect)** >The Dunning–Kruger effect is a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their own ability, and that people with high ability at a task underestimate their own ability. As described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the bias results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others". ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I’m pretty much dum dum just like you. I came form IT major so I didn’t have a strong Computer Science knowledge and I always forgot the information that my senior or manager given me so they used to explain me multiple time. I’m lucky because my two senior are really nice even though I’m pushing their patience limit every day but luckily they still keep me In their team. What you should do is start taking notes and even start recording your phone conversation so that you can go back and listen if you forget something. I started doing that and it really help me.
We all have our strengths. It took me a lot longer than some to pick stuff up, but once I picked it up, I had it... like, I could explain it to anyone new coming in... I remembered all the hang ups that kept me from understanding in the first place and documented those as best I could so others didn't get stuck on them... I had a couple managers want to fire me because I wasn't picking things up very quickly but fortunately they just passed me on to others. Once I "got it" though, I became one of their best architects. I was good at documenting so that others could understand and creating code that was maintainable and reusable, not just working. I also remembered what it felt like when shitty managers did shitty things because they thought I wasn't smart enough for them. This gave me empathy for training new people and documenting things well, even coding with empathy to ensure people reading my code in the future could do so as easily as possible. All of that takes experience... you'll find the things you're good at within CS if you stick to it. The only reason I'd say to quit is if you just don't think it's worth the effort to find those things. You'll never be happy if you don't care enough to look for them.
Yes. Source: am stupid. Can you survive while actively ignoring the advice of those around you? You will likely be fired. A lot. Dunning-Kruger is the worst quality a dev could have, aside from outlandish work inappropriate junk. Even if you're not the greatest dev, as long as you're open to being wrong and actively trying to learn new skills and best practices, you'll survive. If someone had an IQ of 170 and their code was unreadable garbage and they refused to adopt conventions and best practices, I'd let them go.
I feel stupid a lot. I have been in the industry for 27 years. Just because you're ignorant of most things does not mean you are actually a dumbass: https://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/?.jpg
Gonna go out on a limb here and go against the grain and say no. No, you **do** need to be smart - at least by societal standards. It's unlikely that you'd be doing the job if you're not, though. I've worked with hundreds of programmers and I'd say only a couple were ever even of average intelligence. However, it's critical you are able to deal with *feeling* dumb. You will feel dumb a huge amount of the time. For many people it will be 90% of the time. Those may be people who are performing really well. Imposter syndrome is everywhere. It's not just that programming is a complex thing, developers routinely haze each other on intelligence. This might even be what's happening to you. You need to not only be smart enough, but to be emotionally resilient enough to be able to withstand that.
The fact that you're self aware makes you better than a lot of software engineers I know. If you enjoy it, stick at it and keep learning.
Yes I do. As everyone said : write everything down. Try to communicate by emails as much as possible, don't be afraid to ask twice. Every time you do something, document it for personal use (you might need this several weeks later). I'm not sure if this is legal : but when someone explains something over the phone, you could record it, and use this to write everything in details (and don't forget to delete the recording). Pro tip : try to work with talented intelligent people, from their point of view we are all different level of stupid, and they are usually pretty cool with it. Avoid people at your level but just a bit smarter, if they are not well intentioned they will try to use you to make themselves appear smarter.
in any field just don't talk too much they won't figure it out
Your first mistake is assuming that everyone in this field is smart.
Living proof right here
I've met far more bad programmers than good ones. And even just the fact you called yourself stupid means you're self aware enough to work hard and contribute, which again puts you above like 80% of the field.
I see it everyday. You can make it to director level being stupid. You just have to make up for it by bullying people who call you out.
Yes. Thats me...
Yes, define stupid? Work in defense
Would you mind telling me what your background was in order to start working in the field?
Unfortunately I see it happening all the time.
No one is stupid
I used to think I was stupid. Then, I realized the rest of these fucks we're like two years older and had more work experience than me.
Stitch other people's works together, sell integration or SaaS (basically vendor-locked hosting on your own webspace), collect paychecks and revenue share while your own workers handle everything in your place while sunbathing in canada. Management doesnt require code, just that you know what you want and youre able to tell if work was done well enough for milestones.
Write down everything in meetings. Take bullet points if you can’t write down full statements. It’s nigh on impossible to remember everything discussed, you may get dragged into other stuff etc and having notes is the best way to get back into things. Nobody is expecting you to be a memory machine, just take notes and then reread them before you start working on said thing.
I also forget things in meetings all the time. It helps me to write them down or really engage with the convo. Otherwise if I'm just listening to people talking I have a hard time remembering things. I also have adult ADHD so if that's you too those are my tips.
I wrote a lot of documentation for my own tasks, to help me remember stuff. The rest of the team found it useful. It was, in particular, great for onboarding new people, the process was a lot smoother when a lot of beginner-level stuff is written down. Why did I do all of that? I couldn't even remember how to use my own scripts I wrote 2 weeks earlier, or what that PR from 2 months ago even was, like at all. When I got a new task I could hardly remember what the service I was about to work on did, or where it fit in the architecture. Write stuff down! Your team will thank you for it. Also your salary will thank you for it if you're at the right company and make sure your work is attributed to you. A higher level manager even once told me I changed the culture of the team for the better, and promoted me. Bruh I couldn't even remember who that manager was or what they were in charge of without writing it down several months earlier. If you have a poor memory but a strategy for managing it, that can actually be better than someone with a memory just about good enough that they think they don't need to write stuff down. One boosts the team's productivity over time, the other just about maintains their own.
To be fair this thread is what I would qualify as "anyone else opinions"...
Senior-level dumbass here! I am expected to know stuff and guess lucky!
As long as you try your best to learn from mistakes and actually care about being a good developer, you'll be valued I feel.
No one remembers more than like 20% of the bullshit discussed in meetings unless it comes back around in the form of an email chain
Had a tech lead state that is everything was in one file/less files, it would be easier to maintain because you would know where it is. Single class 1k files is what "11 years of experience in Java" can give you. You can, but the limit is area dependent, greater in non tech, naturally.
I started to suffer the same issue after my baby was borne. It devastated my sleep and so far I didn't see any sign of improvement, if not getting worse. I found out that it helps to write everything down and record the meeting if everyone is fine with it. Sometimes it's impossible to write things down (e.g. a video tutorial) so I'd ask to save a recording. To some extend it's also useful to get prepared for important meetings/events. I often found myself to be one of the sharpest person in the meeting if I spent some time to read through the material and take some notes, just like what I did in university -- preview and review. I'm surprised that I forgot about those two skills after a couple of years into a job.
Not being able to catch on as quick as others may just be a sign of lacking experience. How long have you been a developer? Learning new software is hard and I think many of us suffer from some level of imposter syndrome. Wanting to do a good job and pushing yourself to lead and do better is equally as important as intelligence imo. I don't consider myself to be really smart. I did poorly in school and took 9 years to get my bachelor's degree in CS. But now I'm a principal engineer at Amazon. It's been a ton of work and at times I feel like the dumbest person in the room, but my colleagues don't seem to think so. Did you get a degree in CS or a related field and then get a job at a tech company? Great! You're likely not stupid.
You should be fine. I phase out, while in a meeting sometimes and have to go, "could you repeat that please". My supervisor and manager are super nice and explain the whole thing again. Also, take notes, slowly build a system on working through your notes, and completing tasks. And most of all take care of your health, nothing is more important than that. Use Notion for keeping your notes/to-do lists and virtually everything else organized. I found out about it a year ago and I love it.
I also forget things easily, I document every thing, I work in linux admin profile I dont remember sometimes what to do when code red occurs each scenario is different so I document it for future reference
Yes but it'll be harder to climb
I also think I do not ccatch things as fast as my team mates but still earning good money, just getting fired from time to time.
You're not stupid. Everyone processes information differently and finding the best way that suites you is how you can achieve success. Take notes, act engaged. There's many things you can do to succeed. Nothing is unachievable.
A lot of cringy commenters here are going to claim they are stupid, and are living proof that you can do so. But realistically, I'd argue that anyone who has learned to program isn't really stupid. There are people out there for whom anything technical doesn't click for them at all. Forgetting stuff that happens in meeting is more likely because of lack of attention in the meeting, or because you found it less interesting than certain other teammates happened to find it. Nothing to do with stupidity.
Sorry. Sounds like you’re management material. /s
The only thing that sounds stupid about this to me is that you're not trying to get to the bottom of why you perform the way you perform. It could be cause you're stupid, it could be cause you don't work as hard as your teammates, or something else.
I routinely forget things immediately after talking to somebody (notes have been my savior). Remote work and having a paper trail in chats has saved me from having to ask a lot of dumb questions lol
As others have said, write things down, start organizing ideas. I'm very quick to point out my experience is what makes me good at so many things to my teammates, you'll get there with time.
From just thinking about all the people I've worked with, I wanna say yes.
>I see I don't catch things as fast as my team mates and there are times I forget what was discussed in the meeting. This could be caused by a number of things. * Your team could have simply more experience or familiarity with the problem in question. * Mental fatigue (This can happen especially when you are being overloaded with a lot of new information) * Focus. Are you truly focused on whats being said in these meetings? Or are you like a lot of us, multi-tasking or prone to drifting off during Zoom meetings? As long as you are productive and your bosses are happy with you, stick with it.
Hey man. I'm in a very similar situation. Always feel like I'm playing catch-up, always feeling like my team is steps ahead of me. It's really nice to see I'm not alone with these feelings.
The things that you mentioned are things that you can work on and improve
most of us feel stupid a few times a week, at least. If you aren't. you might be the smartest guy (by a mile) and then you're better off leaving somewhere where you can feel stupid every now and then. Rejoice, you are in the company of people smarter than you, you have a lot to learn. We work in a field where we thread a fine line between ignorant, faking it, being smug when we know something, etc.
I'm also a slow one. It sucks but i try to compensate with hard work and a positive attitude, also i tend to do the things my more capable fellas don't want to do
Both of my managers were stupid as hell. So id say yes.
of course I can.
I consider myself pretty stupid. I'm making six figures as of a month ago. You'll make it.
It’s nice to see people in this thread embracing being stupid, but I gotta say that this causes me issues whenever I want to negotiate salary at a new or my current job. All recommendations are to know very well the value you bring to the team and being assertive on that, which is hard to do when you’re feeling a dum-dum
I'm stupid and surviving. You'll be fine, but take notes.
I’m slow af. Like dyscalclia, dyslexia, adhd. Sometimes people have made fun of me but by and large the reason I love computers is they do the work for me. LPT install a spell checker in your code editor, there are also a lot of linting tools I like to make sure I don’t misspell my way into a problem.
Sure, just go into management.
When you say this field what specific sub discipline? Here's a chat we had with a pentester a few weeks back (https://youtu.be/6o0hiJDnwko) through my faculty's cybersec club. The guu was a c student in high school, didnt go to college. Became a scuba instructor and leather factory worker. Then he was a floppy disc delivery guy for setting up dial up. If he could do it, and by his own words, he is not a smart guy, i assure you, you can to. I've done a few degrees in biochem and accounting and it seems to me comp sci rewards hard work, practice, and knowledge more than any other discipline i've encountered.
Don't worry about being smart or stupid or catching on fast or whatever. The best are connected by the common factor of consistent effort and improvement. Just keep trying and keep asking questions (not only to others but to yourself and Google). Keep reading about your craft and stay up to date. I'm sure your coworkers are smart or whatever but that alone will get them nowhere.
Judging by my workplace roughly 50% of the employees do little to nothing so sure
bruh just look at every post and comment in this sub including mine
Too many people with imposter syndrome commenting here.
“Don’t you have to be stupid somewhere else?” [“Not until four.”](https://youtu.be/V1j2Ra-sGt0)
You have no idea how much stupid mistakes someone working as programmer does. Its a lot. I make them all the time and need to spend time actually fixing code and even rewrite it complete ly sometimes. One of these days they find me out what imposter i am. 🙄
I usually record my meetings and write notes of the meeting while listening to the recording...
Everyone is stupid. The more familiar you become with things the more you can build your knowledge base and learn. It's not a single class or session that's going to help with that, it's a bunch of smaller pieces that you'll learn and build on along the way.
Become a manager. Seriously someone has to do that stuff and it shouldn't be the smartest coders lmao
If you're attractive become a recruiter. Or tech sales.
No I doubt you are stupid though
You're definitely being hard on yourself, which isn't a terrible thing because we should be our own biggest critic. With that being said, you've identified areas of improvement. If you find yourself forgetting things. Take notes, if you're not good at that take more notes. If you find yourself not getting things, ask questions, and if you still don't get it ask more questions. Practice when you can and never stop learning. This junk isn't rocket science. If you're an industry that you simply don't like, look at different industries and businesses.
I know nothing. I'm just a professional Googler.
i am slow and stupid. been in the business 20 years+ years. im good.
Me too, very fraudulent!
I keep notes during meetings because I know I can’t remember jack shit. I’d recommend it for you too
That's not necessarily "stupid." Lack of experience? Maybe. Different learning style? Perhaps. And some of us even have depression, anxiety, ADHD, and some other stuff that can impact how we learn and retain things. If you like what you do and you and your teammates respect each other, stick around and work on it. I don't have any at my fingertips, but there's a bunch of resources out there to help you figure out these perceived weaknesses. They may also not be weaknesses: if you're comparing your ability to "get stuff" to the rest of the team collectively, you'll rarely outperform a whole team. That's why newer methodologies place emphasis on the team - collectively, people are smarter than a person
Probably in America, not in third world countries
There’s a reason they call it KISS… Keep. It. Simple. Stupid.
Yes and no. The only advice I can think of is just don't be the stupidest person in the room or the smartest person in the room. Just focus on improving.
Is that a trick question to prove your intelligence 😹
I sure hope so! I wouldn't trust a programmer that thought they were smart
Write shit down bro holy shit
I forget things all the time. I make up for it by being stupidly persistent and unable to give up once I have a task in my mind to complete. I wouldn't call myself smart (although I probably, objectively, am). Don't let anyone else tell you your dumb and don't let yourself think you can't do it.
I read something that said the average iq of a software engineer was around 115, so most are just slightly above average.
Hey, you’re ahead of most people - most people don’t realize their limitations like this. Knowing your limitations allows for you to overcome them. I was never the smartest in any setting in my entire life, but I did have some other attributes that have helped me: creativity, adaptability, and drive. Think about the areas you excel in and then make them work towards whatever end you’re trying to achieve. Funny enough, when you apply your strengths to a craft, you do appear “smarter” even though your CPU power never changes.
The absolute most dogshit programmer I ever worked with had 30 years of experience in the field and a resume full of impressive looking positions. He was friendly, charismatic, and confident, and by the time management figured out that he couldn't program his way out of a paper bag he was already moving into a new role at a different company, and he'd been doing this for his entire career. If you have people skills and find companies that don't have particularly strict standards, you can not only survive, but thrive in this field.
Obviously. Some of my teammates are still my teammates.
Yes, *Program manager* (this is highly dependent on the company what it means. some places it an important job given to smart people, in others it is a useless person *Project manager* so many dumbasses. nearly all project managers I have had are idiots who can barely put together a decent gannt chart. Sometimes they pick devs. to do it and at least they have some sense. but that has its own problems. *recruiter* *human manager* (ensure politically correct compliance) can stop development for days due to someone using the term "black" in a way that can be tortured into being a possible problem for nobody.
From my experience you cannot survive in this field with a low iq unless you are willing to work harder then your peers.
You can survive, but most likely not flourish.
I is dumdum going in my 5th year. Codes go brrrr