I do say the same thing frequently, but I also fear I am giving into another sort of smugness: someone who has had a special leg up and is denying it. Trying t

I do say the same thing frequently, but I also fear I am giving into another sort of smugness: someone who has had a special leg up and is denying it. Trying to look like I have less from the degrees than I actually do is maybe also not so great, could possibly be even worse (disincentives people who could really benefit from an appropriate degree). While CS related knowledge comes up almost never in day to day work and conversation, it is a common background I share with most people at work. We all have the same frame of reference, and can pick up what each other are talking about more easily that way. And perhaps the most useful aspects of our degree have become so second nature to our thinking we do not notice them anymore. Also, the experience during the degree of working with rarified problems does train my mind to find the underlying concept behind it all, instead of hacking barely working pieces of code together. Or at least helps me feel more shame when I do the latter, and give me some instinct to push for something better.