[agentultra]

Smugness: the dark-side of hubris. Hubris being one of the three virtues [0].

I like to remember the past of computer programming as though it was once friendly and receptive to people of all skill levels. I owe quite a lot to the geeks who came before me and answered my stupid questions, gave me powerful tools to learn with, and accepted my contributions; flawed as they were. Without making a few mistakes along the way I wouldn't be where I am today.

I don't know whether I would have given up if the people I met were more smug and mean-spirited but my progress might have been slowed by it. Life is too short to waste bothering with people who are miserly with their good fortunes. It doesn't cost you anything to be nice and share your knowledge and wisdom. It may pay off when the person you're sharing with rises to stand upon your shoulders one day and pay homage to you.

[0] http://threevirtues.com/

[duaneb]

You can be proud of your achievements without being smug.

Also, hubris being a virtue is crap. It may be decent for your self esteem but it makes you miserable to be around. Case in point: Larry Wall.

[bigtunacan]

Agreed, hubris is not a virtue.

Merriam-Webster - hubris - "a great or foolish amount of pride or confidence"

It's just a synonym used for arrogance and smugness. Humbleness is a virtue.

[wutbrodo]

From the way you phrased this, I think You may have missed the context link a couple comments above. Everyone is aware of what hubris means and that it's not a virtue per se. The point of the linked page is that it's (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) taking three vices and positioning them as virtues in a narrow context. It's just semantics; the saying could easily have used synonyms that have positive connotations, but using negative words instead is part of the joke.

[bigtunacan]

Yes; apparently I had. Thanks.