Absolutely not. I would either go into a more vain profession like sales or pursue the arts, particularly acting. Not only would I likely do better financially,

Absolutely not. I would either go into a more vain profession like sales or pursue the arts, particularly acting. Not only would I likely do better financially, doing something more aligned with my aptitudes, but I'd be doing something I actually enjoy. I've had brief epiphanies over the years that coding was the wrong path for me, between how difficult it was for me, my disdain for the craft & its culture, and the comments I would get about my looks. "You don't look like a programmer", "You look like a model", "You look like the star of an action movie", "You look like a Disney prince". I would rarely acknowledge these comments as serious, and even when I did, I'd try to downplay them and humble myself, and lament the unfairness of the world, that I should be treated special just because of some dice roll at birth. It all recently started to hit me after reading some articles that set off light bulbs [1] [2] that I made a mistake by immersing myself in nerd world. It's strange that the older I've gotten, the more vain I've become, or maybe we're all just as vain and don't really get less so or moreso, but just notice it more over the years. I likely could have profited significantly from a profession that's more beauty-contest oriented. Programming is not one of those professions. Instead, I wasted away, hidden away in nerd world. I still struggle to get a programming job. And my family and I continue to suffer for it, financially. Such a waste. I know I sound narcissistic, and that's partly because of the particular bias I've discussed, but it's not just about that - it's about failing to notice and capitalize on innate strengths and qualities, like I was fighting nature, and nature always wins. And I think there's morals to this story: ride the crest of the wave with your strengths instead of trying to heave a weakness out of the trough, open your eyes and exploit every single advantage available to you and don't apologize or be humble or politically correct about it. Every advantage you fail to capitalize on is one that your competitors will. [1] https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/when-glasses-land-the-gig-employers-still-choose-workers-who-look-the-part https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/when-glasses-land-the-gig-employe... [2] https://www.psypost.org/2023/11/attractiveness-has-a-bigger-impact-on-mens-socioeconomic-success-than-womens-study-suggests-214653 https://www.psypost.org/2023/11/attractiveness-has-a-bigger-...