Dr Darren says: "If you don't know something just admit it and ask for help. That's what the best of intelligent people do (and how they get smarter). They don't try to fake it for fear of asking. To grow, you have to admit what you don't know."

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Dr Darren says:

"The best of your colleagues will respect you far more for knowing when you are on top of something and when you aren't - and for simply asking without a fuss when you aren't completely on top of something - than if you try to hide it or try to bluff your way through. Simply ask. Most colleagues will be delighted to help you or steer you towards references that can help you, and maybe another time there is something you know well that they don't and then they can ask you."

There's a heck of a lot to learn, and not even the most intelligent people on the planet can know it all, or be fully proficient in every area, or have real world experience with every domain (which is often essential for really knowing about something).

The difference between just-sort-of intelligent people and the very best of intelligent people is that the best of them are far more aware of what they do and don't really know, and use it as an opportunity to learn. That's how they get smarter.

I officially have a PhD in Applied Maths & Astrophysics, but I'm not active in that area and there's heaps I don't know about those areas, especially some pure mathematics (although I enjoy using Wolfram Mathematica to learn more). I have some colleagues who are top Mathematicians (some Wolfram Mathematica experts amongst them). Sometimes there's some things that are pretty basic for them, even some mathematical notations, that I don't know about. They might get a bit of a giggle and have a wry smile about my having to ask about something, and that I don't know it already, but so what? It's far more "embarrassing" to not ask and stay ignorant.

Besides, there's stuff I know a lot about such as SysML and MBSE that is not their own specialist area.

But I'm not a Chemist, and certainly not a Biochemist, there's heaps I don't know about those areas. So I listen to audiobooks about chemistry, topics that would be basic for a professional Chemist, but I learn some stuff. I listen to audiobooks to learn about latest astrophysics developments, and about particle physics, there's a lot of new discoveries and theories since I studied them many decades ago.

Most smart people could have done nearly anything they chose to at a high professional level. Maybe a Surgeon you know could have become a top performance Pianist, but chose medicine instead. Maybe a Pilot you know could have become a top Engineer. It's not about whether you are smart enough to do something, it's about what you do actually know about, and what you don't, in your limited human lifetime, and it does not matter at all why, nobody can be an expert in everything.

Same goes for being wrong. If you know you were wrong about some technical matter, simply admit it, learn, then move on and focus on doing something useful with what you learned.

Besides, as I once read on a fortune cookie:

The best thing about being wrong is the joy it can bring to other people.
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