I don't think you need to be particularly smart to be an avg software developer; the older I get the more I realise how average I am. When I started work as a t

I don't think you need to be particularly smart to be an avg software developer; the older I get the more I realise how average I am. When I started work as a teenager I used to think I was a brilliant programmer - hah, no way! But I do think you need an interest in the practice and a certain mindset, just like any other job. I do it because I quite enjoy writing certain types of software, which I often don't get to write. I've never been paid all that much for it, never more than about 90K US, and not even that for very long. I think all those FAANG salaries are obscene and there's no way even a small fraction of the people making that money are worth it, or earning it, especially with how they're not making society any better. It's interesting talking to tradespeople and learning about what they do. There's a lot of math involved in some trades like machining and electricians where I live learn a lot of it too while training. A good tradesperson has to be every bit as clever as your normal software developer. My old man was a diesel mechanic, then a fitter and turner and finally did a mech eng certificate at night school and became a draftsman. What he learned was way more difficult than anything I ever had to learn.