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Comment by auggierose | Hacker News Reader

There is the assumption that people necessarily mind feeling like a noob. I don't really. What I dislike is a situation where I freely admit of being a noob and then people who know clearly even less about the situation than I do acting superior. Or people who know more than me now about it, but will know less than me in a month acting superior. Or, just people acting superior :-)

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Agreed. I don't mind being a noob since I think it's perfectly ok to be a noob and I have a ton of respect for anyone else who is trying to learn something new.

I got angry recently when I asked a question on amazon about a home improvement hardware item and one of the responses I got was something like, "This job is better left to a professional." They completely dismissed my question like everyone who works in that profession was born with this knowledge.

I just wanted to know if it was possible to disconnect two of the pieces (and someone else confirmed it was possible, so it wasn't a dumb question after all). Not to mention, it was for an art project, so the "professional" quality/safety advice doesn't apply. That's when being a noob feels bad.

Zen out. Let people act superior if that's how they want to act and don't worry about who knows more or who thinks they know more.

Talking about zen, the concept "beginners mind" [1] is where this "feeling like a noob" is the desired state that will help you not get stuck in your ego when you get good at something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin

The last several years it seems I've encountered a lot less abrasive, condescending superior-intellect types. In the past I've worked with people with egos the size of the Sun. I've been wondering if I've just been lucky recently, or if there's just less of them out there.

Then again, it could just be that I've learned to tolerate various personalities better as I've gotten older.

Good advice. At the same time, in some cases, this approach can bring real world consequences?

E.g. might result in that other silly and superior acting person, getting the job, and you didn't. Or the girls like him better because he seems confident?

But anyway, generally, I like the Zen-out approach. And probably it's possible to be a good self esteem Noob too -- I mean, to stay happy when one tries and fails repeatedly, also when everyone is watching, although maybe not so easy.

This is how we ended up with a bunch of rich but ignorant people calling the shots.

I didn't say do what they say, or let them push you around. Just let them act how they want to act, and then go with what you know. Why does it matter to me if someone acts superior about a topic if I have my own confidence in what I know?

Because they will persuade people who don't know any better.

Just present how you see things and try to persuade them of your view then. Don’t worry about how good the other person thinks they are.

There's a fundamental human need to feel better than others.

It's not always a bad thing, as it is used as a carrot to bond teams and push for excellence (Think "Semper Fi").

But it is quite grating. The main thing that gets me, is when folks being superior either withhold information, or deliberately try to interfere with my learning.

On StackOverflow, I have almost twice as many questions as I have answers. This doesn't really get me any respect.

But boy oh boy, have I learned a lot.

On StackOverflow I have twice as many answers as I have questions. But yeah, same.

I guess that I could up that, for myself, but I don't usually hang there to answer questions.

I'm too busy writing code. I try to give back to the community, so I do answer a few. SO is a hugely valuable resource for me, and I sincerely appreciate the help that I get there; even when it is delivered with a sneer.

Ya, I have both twice as many answers as questions and twice as many questions as answers. But keep plugging away guys, you'll get there.

I have no idea why you made that post.

What I dislike is a situation where I feel like I _ought_ to be a noob, or feel like a noob, or be acting like a noob, but other people treat like an expert who doesn't realise that he is acting like a noob.

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