 "Dumbing yourself down" around your peers?
dionidium: One way to look at it is that you'll inevitably dumb yourself down in front of someone you haven't yet realized is actually smart. So it seems you have a choice between 1) frequently appearing pompous or out-of-place but occasionally identifying yourself as smart to other smart people, which is likely a desirable outcome; or 2) always appearing average, even in front of people you'd prefer didn't think of you as average.