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> People often assume that I know far more than I actually do. That’s not a bad problem to have and I’m not complaining. It is also not a good problem to have,

> People often assume that I know far more than I actually do. That’s not a bad problem to have and I’m not complaining. It is also not a good problem to have, either. There will always be a few people who think you know everything, and a few people who think you know nothing. The only plausible reason why everybody would think you know everything is that you act like you know everything around everybody. Put differently, if most people think you know more than you do, it would imply that you are not very humble in your interactions with most people. > Folks from minority groups often suffer the opposite bias despite their hard-earned credentials, and that sucks. Does it suck, though? It is much better to be underestimated than to be overestimated. I've read a lot of Dan's articles. He offers a lot of interesting insight and advice in pretty much every article he's written. The guy comes off as a know-it-all! Not saying it's bad, but it something to introspect on if you constantly find people overestimating your abilities.

azangru 8y ago
> Does it suck, though? That's the mainstream narrative as regards to minority groups in tech :-) I too am not convinced that being underestimated sucks. Being overestimated may be stressful when you keep trying to fit the image that others may have formed of you and to meet their expectations. When underestimated, the most likely way is upwards, towards greater appreciation; when overestimated, one quite possible way is downwards, amid general disappointment of those who had higher expectations of you. I am not sure which is better.
thatswrong0 8y ago
I wouldn’t say he comes across as a know-it-all.. everything he’s written that I’ve read has to do with React or a few closely related subjects. And his writing never has a tone of superiority or “this should be obvious” that is, IMO, a requirement to be a know-it-all I personally kind of figured he knew a lot about everything Webdev related since he knows so much about React, but that’s obviously not the case now that he’s listed all that out. In fact, now I don’t feel like the extent my knowledge is as limited as I did because I have a basis for comparison! Which I.. figure might be the point of the article?
alangpierce 8y ago
> It is much better to be underestimated than to be overestimated Being constantly underestimated probably doesn't feel so great when it's hard to find employment or when people don't respect your technical opinions.

azangru 8y ago

> Does it suck, though? That's the mainstream narrative as regards to minority groups in tech :-) I too am not convinced that being underestimated sucks. Being overestimated may be stressful when you keep trying to fit the image that others may have formed of you and to meet their expectations. When underestimated, the most likely way is upwards, towards greater appreciation; when overestimated, one quite possible way is downwards, amid general disappointment of those who had higher expectations of you. I am not sure which is better.

thatswrong0 8y ago

I wouldn’t say he comes across as a know-it-all.. everything he’s written that I’ve read has to do with React or a few closely related subjects. And his writing never has a tone of superiority or “this should be obvious” that is, IMO, a requirement to be a know-it-all I personally kind of figured he knew a lot about everything Webdev related since he knows so much about React, but that’s obviously not the case now that he’s listed all that out. In fact, now I don’t feel like the extent my knowledge is as limited as I did because I have a basis for comparison! Which I.. figure might be the point of the article?

alangpierce 8y ago

> It is much better to be underestimated than to be overestimated Being constantly underestimated probably doesn't feel so great when it's hard to find employment or when people don't respect your technical opinions.