Ask HN: How do you know if you're becoming a better hacker?
Do you rely on the input of others, or do you just trust yourself to make a fair assessment?
Maybe this article (Great Hackers: Recognition) might help ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html
It's like asking, "Am I pretty/handsome?" Well, do people tell you that you are? Do you notice people that you think are pretty/handsome staring at you? If so, there's a chance you are.
Measuring how much better you're becoming is easier in some practices than in others. Assuming everybody wants to become great hackers, how can you practice deliberately such that you reach this "greatness?" Without some way of measuring how good you're becoming this is pretty difficult to do.
"Incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy."
It's such a nice formulation ;-)