[afarrell]

People can't improve if they lack self-knowledge and others are wiling to bullshit them.

"I've got skill gaps as a programmer, especially at broad-level architectural design" is a belief that a mentally healthy person can have.

"If I express concern about my skill level, people will just say that I'm delusional" is a belief that will mess somebody up, especially if it is repeatedly re-enforced by reality.

[striking]

You're not replying to the comment I wrote and to the comment I was replying to.

There is no equivalence between "bullshitting people" and encouraging them to think of themselves as early on in their careers. There is no equivalence between encouraging someone to improve and ignoring someone's self-concerns about their skill level. There is no equivalence between someone currently lacking programming skill and someone being too short for the NBA.

In case I wasn't clear about it before, you shouldn't bullshit people who clearly aren't putting the work in or are having trouble getting to where they want to go. You should encourage them to think in a healthy way about their current progress and encourage them to find ways to get better and allocate the resources needed for their growth.

[afarrell]

> There is no equivalence between someone currently lacking programming skill and someone being too short for the NBA.

Agreed.

> You should encourage them to think in a healthy way about their current progress and encourage them to find ways to get better and allocate the resources needed for their growth.

Agreed.

> There is no equivalence between encouraging someone to improve and ignoring someone's self-concerns about their skill level.

It depends crucially on the words you use to encourage them to improve. I've often found 'impostor syndrome' to be stymie clarity. I might be guilty of replying to a comment that isn't quite your words though. apologies for that.