You must read at least one book to ride

Two things are true.

The first is going to sound bad in a culture where engineers are encouraged to apologize for existing while it is totally acceptable for a grifter that can't code to insist that they're a "thought leader". It is that, in my immediate professional environment, I am consistently acknowledged to be one of the best engineers around. As a rough rule, I study more than the average engineer around me by up to two orders of magnitude. I've been made an offer at the senior level at one of the best companies in the state, various Serious People happily re-employ me, and become incensed when I see lazy commit messages. I'm doin' pretty good.

The second, and this one is going to sound bad because I sometimes need to convince people to employ me, is that I am clearly worse than…