A few conservations with some colleagues went over the familiar ground of dumb people not knowing they are stupid, and shifted into people thinking they are hot shit because they are above average, but not exceptional.

Like, we understand people being too dumb to not know they are dumb.
But smart people should be smart enough to know they are not awesome.

I used to be in a very, very high quality density environment.

We all used examples of things.
Like, people saying “my IQ based on ... always over 98th percentile, on one test 99.5th percentile, but I have been around people I am in awe of”,
Or “around 35 years old, I could get up to 350 on the bench, but that is nothing for a mediocre power lifter smaller than me”,
Or, “yeah, I was starting quarterback, but at a service academy, I would never have made it to summer camp in the pros”

Basically, everyone was very cognizant of not letting things go to there head. And there was no jealously of the guys that stood out among super stars.

A decade later, there seems to be more resentment and even hatred.
I was telling a current colleague, “some guys are just super high quality. I went to a dive course with a guy, he graduated West Point, medical school, Ranger School, SFAS, and is now an astronaut”
They said “oh, ones of those guys great on paper”
After saying they were very good and high quality, not just on paper, they did not believe it.

I was telling some other colleagues about a naval academy grad, SEAL, that became a trauma surgeon. They were like “I bet he was a real asshole”
I was like, no, he’s a great dude,
And they brainstormed all the reasons he was not.

It’s almost like,
People like that are no longer role models.
There is something wrong with them.