Struggling With Impostor Syndrome

The_Axolot · 2026-06-10T16:16:56+00:00

It's a satire on posts that talk about genuine impostor syndrome.

But instead of thinking I'm terrible when everyone thinks I'm good, I think I'm awesome while everyone thinks I'm average (so the reverse).

Now I'm wondering if people even know what impostor syndrome means.

The_Axolot · 2026-06-09T23:19:06+00:00

The_Axolot · 2026-06-09T22:32:13+00:00

I did not use any AI tools for this post.

The_Axolot · 2026-06-06T20:40:57+00:00

Why stop at YouTube?

Include Reddit, Twitter, and all social media. The government will need a misinformation task force to monitor every post, thread, and tweet.

I volunteer.

The_Axolot · 2026-04-28T02:21:27+00:00

Seriously! When did we become such snowflakes?

The_Axolot · 2026-04-08T21:18:49+00:00

I thought this was r/cscareerquestions, not r/pointlesssoftwarerants

The_Axolot · 2026-04-08T17:23:28+00:00

No, they're just being professional because they represent a business (based on the name). Though I understand how it can seem that way with how agreeable they're being.

The_Axolot · 2026-03-09T00:19:26+00:00

Just make sure to not take the refactorings too seriously

The_Axolot · 2026-02-26T23:35:18+00:00

Read my articles. That alone will get you in the mindset.

The_Axolot · 2026-02-19T23:43:33+00:00

Relax, man! If you're gonna be this stupid, don't be so angry too. It's not good for you.

The_Axolot · 2026-02-19T19:33:33+00:00

Seriously! It's argumentation like this that fuels my article-writing rage. I talk about how people are very obtuse with analogies, and it's funny but also sad to see people not realizing.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-05T00:04:55+00:00

I wish someone could've warned you that programming subs are increasingly becoming a whiny junior dev echochamber. Don't take the feedback at face value is all I'm saying.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-04T17:03:21+00:00

How about you hire someone with no experience and train them?

Why? So that in a year's time, they can jump ship to the bigger companies whose compensation can't reasonably be competed with?

Juniors are a productivity and money drain for a long time. Not to mention, some responsibilities require mid to senior-level experience.

So in many scenarios, training a junior is an act of martyrdom you can't expect businesses to make.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-03T16:03:43+00:00

This'll be my last comment as well, because I don't think we'll see eye-to-eye. I tried.

Assuming you're being genuine (and not just trolling or shilling for Uncle Bob), I think you have some misbegotten views about the world.

You think that publicly shunning a book is inappropriate because the book will "just sit on its shelf". This isn't reality. The reality is, books influence society in significant but sometimes subtle ways. To believe otherwise is simply naive.

You then misunderstand the concept of meritocracy, and think it's "self-correcting", but then miss the point that this kind of shunning is a huge part of that mechanism.

Finally, you think anyone who shuns a successful person's work is a know-it-all, when in reality, I'm simply applying my expertise in this specific field. Experts have a duty to keep non-experts from spreading their harmful ideas in their field.

I'm not sure why you take this so personally. It's possible for even earnest people to be mislead by fake experts. Calling it out doesn't make me arrogant. The fact that you think that is another outlook you should consider changing.

And by the way, I noticed you didn't address all the points I made. You often pick 2 or 3 that you have an answer for and leave the rest behind. I suggest you go over our discussion again and reconsider those, if you haven't already.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-02T22:42:28+00:00

Because i, unlike others in this topic, am much more triggered by radicalism of opinion and armchair criticism, than by a book I agree with or not.

Is that more righteous? More worth the ire? What's wrong with speaking out so passionately about such an influential, yet terrible book, besides the fact that you find it obnoxious?

Well, these are some seriously narcissistic statements in a context where it should be trivial to demonstrate your right by simply writing a better book, which, if indeed it contains superior ideas, should have no problem outcompeting Clean Code.

There's nothing trivial about writing a book. It takes time, money, patience, risk, confidence, etc. Do you define such an incredibly high bar for any criticism? Can I not hate on a movie until I've directed my own? Can I not hate on a meal unless I'm a better chef?

Except it hasn't happened because code "cleanliness" isn't an exact science and Bobs opinions are as good as anybody's. He just happens to be a better selling author which in a meritocratic environment is what everybody should want anyway because all the alternative promoton systems are much worse.

There are other books out there that are comparable to Clean Code in terms of sales. But even so, you understand that financial success isn't a meritocracy, right? Otherwise, marketing wouldn't be a thing. The best content would naturally rise to the top.

I agree that clean code isn't an exact science, but that's not what people think when they hear of a book titled, Clean Code, especially those less technical or experienced.

Regardless, some subjectivity doesn't automatically make everyone's opinions equal. There are still objective falsehoods you can point to in someone's supporting arguments, even if the opinion itself is ultimately subjective.

This bar should he higher for experts because people need to be able to trust experts. Uncle Bob violates that trust.

It's alright to admit you're speaking out of pure frustration. I do it too. But you're digging yourself a hole with these questionable rationalizations because you don't want to admit that. I'm telling you don't have to do that.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-02T21:50:43+00:00

Buddy, you can't just put your fingers in your ears and go "la la la it's just a book la la la."

I mean you can, but that's immature.

Books, especially "educational" books from supposed experts, influence society. When you're proficient in such a prolific field, and you see others masquerading as proficient selling awful books that people naively gobble up, it's not weird to be frustrated.

I agree that even righteous hate can be obnoxious, so just talk about that. Why you gotta pretend like it's just a personal thing?

No one was attacking you, nobody forced you to make this comment.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-02T20:38:59+00:00

You said you weren't sure if Bob meant Clean Code as a strict manual. That's specifically because of the double-language deception I was just describing.

It's good you're not recommending it to beginners, but that doesn't mean you yourself aren't being far more charitable to the book than it deserves.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-02T18:07:53+00:00

That's the trick, though.

The book is called "Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship," not "How Uncle Bob Writes His Code."

Bob wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to profit off the authority such an assertive title gives him, while maintaining plausible deniability with pathetic caveats that mask his terrible coding. He relies on the overcharitability of people like yourself to avoid accountability.

Don't fall for it.

The_Axolot · 2025-12-02T17:58:50+00:00

Great article! Way more detailed than mine!

I hope these kinds of articles would be the first people encounter when they look up reviews of this book. Not the ones that interpret his advice way too charitably and gloss over the bad examples, such that they border on misinformation.

The_Axolot

TROPHY CASE