This actually calls to mind this great talk by Grand Sanderson (the YouTuber behind 3blue1brown): https://youtu.be/z7GVHB2wiyg?si=jcUtUo-TT3ycpTpD

That talk is about something superficially different—ego in math—but on reflection, I think the desire to look smart actually really does set one up for success in math in the particular way that the OP article describes.

When you just want to look smart, you don’t care whether you know something because you thought of it or because you read it in a book. You just care that you can show off what you know and solve problems easily. So you voraciously read and memorize and try to accumulate a massive mental database of facts to show off. Then at the end you find you’re actually good at the thing.