Smart Enough to Look Stupid

I recently read an article by Dan Luu on the Willingness to Look Stupid. A practice that I love and do it so my daughters can learn from it. I can recount many instances of me looking stupid but came our learning a lot, or eventually winning something at the end. The article puts it nice with instances you can learn from.

The benefit from asking a stupid sounding question is small in most particular instances, but the compounding benefit over time is quite large and I've observed that people who are willing to ask dumb questions and think "stupid thoughts" end up understanding things much more deeply over time. Conversely, when I look at people who have a very deep understanding of topics, many of them frequently ask naive sounding questions and continue to apply one of the techniques that got them a deep understanding in the first place.

It is better to Look Stupid than to Look Smart but Stupid Inside.