On a similar note, "fear of not looking smart" can make it hard to ask a question. Often when I'm in a meeting and they're going deep into some technical thing I don't understand, I (nowadays) assume that everybody else is confused, too, and I ask the question. And then once I do, everyone else relaxes and follows up. But until that ice is broken, we're all sweating bullets trying to look like we get something we literally do not understand at all.