I had the opposite experience. But it helps that I've personally known very smart people with that same dry style of humor. Whose self-assurance was completel

I had the opposite experience. But it helps that I've personally known very smart people with that same dry style of humor. Whose self-assurance was completely justified. I therefore read it as not pretentious, but as understated. It helps that the actual content could only have been written by someone who genuinely was extremely smart.