[eucyclos]

There's also the fact that there's a lot less social pressure for young people not to look stupid. If you're the senior subject matter expert and get a question you can't answer, people still expect you to make an educated guess. The junior guy they expect to ask someone.

[xorcist]

That does not match with my, very much anecdotal, experience.

Real subject matter experts are generally very clear about where their expertise ends. Less experienced people, not so much.

[zimpenfish]

> There's also the fact that there's a lot less social pressure for young people not to look stupid.

Also also they tend to be less financially "tethered" for want of a better word - mortgages, families, children, etc. - which makes it easier for them to be risky (consciously or not) about what/who/where they work on/with.

Probably not likely to be jumping from your stable 9/5 to a startup when you've got your semi-detached with 4 kids.

[cal_dent]

And people wonder why society failed to embed the idea of being a blessing to say "I don't know" in llms....

That alone would save so much trouble. We, particularly bad workplaces, have a real fear of not knowing so much so that being confidently wrong is a better position in the whole game.

[iamflimflam1]

The sign of true subject matter expert is someone who has the confidence to say when they don’t know the answer.

[jodrellblank]

    input(“ask me any question”)
    print(“I don’t know”)

behold, Plato’s PhD level expert on any topic.

[iamflimflam1]

It’s missing the line for “if I don’t know the answer”

[jodrellblank]

It always doesn't know the answer, there's no branching possible, so no need for a branch test. By your definition that makes it a "true subject matter expert" on every subject. Although if you squint a bit, it does look rather like a plucked chicken.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anonymous_-_Diogenes...

[bonoboTP]

Yes, but that better not be all the time, and around basic questions.

[chris_money202]

Sounds more like the sign of just a humble, honest person