Comment by underlipton

I imagine that an issue for many isn't so much that feeling stupid is uncomfortable so much as it's a good heuristic for when you're in over your head in a way that could be dangerous to your life or livelihood. So then, it's actually a matter of trust: "I trust that wrestling with this problem for a few hours/days/weeks isn't going to disrupt my ability to get food/pay rent/be physically-safe." It's super easy to plow through feelings of insecurity when you can convince yourself that you're actually going to be secure, in the long run. If there are, however, negative and material consequences for getting things wrong...

The lawyer friend who dropped out went into a field where her "bag was secured", to use a contemporary phrase. The author acknowledges that she was capable; perhaps the root issue wasn't "feeling stupid", so much as "feeling like I'm going to be broke even if I crack this nut."