Nassim Taleb writes:
‘…Avoid people who look and talk the part, whether surgeons or scientists or stockbrokers. They are trying to win your confidence by means of rituals rather than results. Practitioners who are exceptionally good at producing results have less need to conform to professional stereotypes. And those who succeed in a profession despite not looking the part must, all other things being equal, have greater talent…’
Source: Medium
There is another, related point to make — nonconformity may be its own virtue. Is this what Thoreau meant:
