[quote name='frob' timestamp='1358463426' post='5022684']
"I could do that if I had a magical programmer trait"[/quote]

This.

So many people believe that any given discipline requires a magical spark of 'talent'. It makes a convenient excuse to justify the fact that they never had the patience to learn to do something well...

I hear the same admonition from great musicians all the time.

Everybody was born not knowing what a Mixolydian scale is. Everybody was born without experience playing [instrument of choice]. Everybody was born with zero ability to play music.

Sure, there are minor differences in where people start; some have better ears than others, some naturally have better rhythm, etc. But those differences are trivial to overcome.

What separates a great musician from the awestruck audience member isn't some kind of genetic infusion of power. In reality, the difference is merely thousands of hours of practice, study, and dedication.


Programming is no different.

Note that you named the topic "On being called a Genius", as opposed to "That awkward moment when you get called genius", indicating a tendency to, like, you know, speak proper. That alone makes you a genius in the eyes of the undereducated

Some of my friends say stuff like this to me, too...I don't know if I've ever been given the "genius" title, but I've been overly complicated for programming achievements a few times in the past, when I do something big enough to share it with my (scarce) friends on Facebook.

I don't really consider these to be great compliments because, to be honest, my friends don't really know enough about programming to understand that there are thousands of other programmers who could have made something just as good or better than what I made.

I agree with ApochPiQ; I'd be more interested to hear specific compliments, rather than just general "you're so amazing!" compliments from people who aren't really knowledgeable enough to know if what I did was actually great or not.

It depends on why they are calling me that and who they are.

If it is for programming and they know nothing about the trade, it really has no meaning. Literally. It doesn’t build up expectations. It doesn’t come off as a compliment. I suggest literally just shrugging it off entirely. I view it as that person’s ignorance towards my trade, but I know they are also trying to be nice and they are undeserving of a negative reply, so I just do my best to hide my disgust and give a “Thank you” as close to sincerely as my “I cannot tell a lie” mandate allows me.

Then again, if it were one of my current coworkers I would take it as a sincere compliment. It hasn’t happened in programming but I know their levels and I can guess I would feel pretty happy.
But I wouldn’t let it build expectations.
I’ve played that game before and it took the fun out of a lot of things, specifically chess. When I was younger and more naive I won an American national chess championship, after which the pressure was really on. Imagine those kinds of expectations. My friend told his dad how “amazing” I was and that he had never seen anyone beat me, right after which his dad beat me.
I knew I didn’t deserve their words—I made stupid mistakes and lost matches constantly.
Every time I felt I was letting everyone else down. I didn’t feel embarrassed for myself, I felt ashamed for letting everyone down.
It took the fun out of the game entirely and I quit stone cold 2 years later.


It took many years to figure out that you just have to be happy with yourself and your abilities.
If you get put up on a pedestal and you worry about disappointing others should you fail, don’t.
Accept that you will fail sometimes and people will be disappointed in you. But that is their fault, not yours. They put those expectations there out of ignorance.
If you find yourself getting piled under expectations, just step aside and let them hit the floor. You will be a happier human for it.


L. Spiro

I did paper modelling when I was younger, and I did it pretty well. And almost all comments was something like, "You have skilful hands" "I wouldn't have the patience to to that". FU.

I have average hand (I can hardly tie a simple knot on a sack), and I'm pretty impatient, even with stuff I like to do. I, for one, would have been happy if someone called me a genius because of making fine paper crafts from zero is a month or 2 in my free-time (not some kits, everything was "invented" and developed by me from the age of 12 to 17). That time, I could have used some recognition.

I build Lego stuff this time. Own models, it's pretty farking hard to design them I say is some regards harder than a real machine. There aren't many people in the world who does it well, I'm maybe getting among them some time. Pretty much no one gives a shit about my models. I don't care much, but sometimes it's interesting, that even engineers don't care at all.

My mom's idea: son you are a comp sci expert ....now fix my computer!