I completely agree with most of your comment. I wonder, though, if some good could come from (erroneously) acknowledging one's own genius privately and temporarily. If that person were above a certain threshold, wouldn't the acknowledgement of one's own genius evoke the conflict that there must be much more left to learn that the person isn't yet aware of? It might just provide enough motivation to search for the reasons why it was so ignorant to have considered oneself a genius.