As I further in my career in software engineering, I realize more and more that nobody in my field, or the fields I work with, really knows what they're doing. Even the best people I've worked with are still guessing, constantly looking things up, etc. And most people I work with don't even fall into this category. Most people I work with, especially those with the most credentials, are truly just chugging through hoping they don't get caught, which they never will because everyone is in their same boat.

For the longest time I've realized this with the field I've worked in and work with closely, but always kind of assumed that more distant fields, like doctors and lawyers, were different. I'm realizing now that this is obviously not the case. With lawyers, it became abundantly obvious once I started actually watching trials (Rittenhouse, Chauvin, Depp, etc.). They're nothing like on TV or movies. They're not full of chess-like plays and brilliant wordplay. They're full of bumbling idiots.

And it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that every trial you see is the exception. Obviously this is fallacious. They're all the same.

It's obvious that doctors are the same way. Everyone is just pushing through. They're not superhuman; they're looking shit up the same as you and me.