This is such good advice.

As the saying goes:

'If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.'

Corollary: Someone in the room is in the wrong room.

I think this objection can be countered by completing the quote “if your goal is to learn and grow as quickly as possible.”

Maybe the smartest person already did that, and is now more interested in cashing in / mentoring / a quiet life etc.

Yes. It was tongue in cheek. Another objection is that smartness isn’t an ordering. You could be the best person in the room at something but still learn on other things.

Corollary to Corollary: no two people can be equally smart

Corollary. It is wrong to be alone in a room.

I agree, aaand disagree to this. If you're not attached to the product/service/code base you can leave quite easily, but if not you should stay and shape the future of it.

I fully agree with this.

Education is evolving and people come to the industry much better prepared compared to a few years go. I feel the problems haven't changed much and it's normal to see people with less experience be more productive than you'd expect. You can contribute by helping them :)

Also, it's totally natural to be confused and doubtful when you start a new job. You're learning a totally new set of social norms, business jargon and codebases. It usually takes me a month or two to learn the new TLAs, much less the names of people.

And it's arrogant (in a way) to think the people that hired you are blind fools for seeing potential where there's not. In other words: trust yourself. Bad hires happen but the bad hires are usually not the first to point that out.

This is excellent advice! On top of this, you seem to have a great attitude - humility and objectivity. It will help you learn faster!