Feeling Stupid in School and Life

Caroline “Register to Vote” Tompson @CeTompson said on Twitter,

Dear people older, wiser, and higher degreed than me,

I have a question. Did grad school make you feel dumb?

Sincerely,
A stressed out first year grad student who feels like she’s in over her head

Part of being a grad student is that you get used to feeling dumb, and expect it. It’s the opposite of being an MBA student, who figures he’s not being taught right if he doesn’t understand right away. But if there’s a royal road to it, it ain’t geometry.

If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. They’ve got nothing to teach you. All you can do is make money off their ignorance.

Relax. One of the great joys of being a scholar is that you learn you don’t have to understand 100% any more. 10% is fine, actually, if you’re keeping your eyes open. Socrates’s happy ignorance.

From a thread:

I am only three years older than you but I feel dumber by the day. The only thing thats really changed is that I’ve gotten used to the feeling a bit

I’m maybe 40 years older, I really am dumber by the day, if I’m a typical aging human being. But I’ve gained enough wisdom not to mind– much (degrading eyesight is much worse, especially when trying to untangle fishing line).

Jason Coupet on graduate school:

If you don’t feel dumb you not doing it right