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I'm speaking from personal experience, but I've come to realize we're not as "objective" as we think we are. Everyone - short of true autists - read others more than they realize by a LARGE margin, so what we think we perceive as "looks" might not be looks at all.
The cliché about
>it's all about confidence
is not that far off, but it's more like (the wrong) half of the story. We're all told we can become confident, creative, intelligent, and all that shit, but that's bullshit. We are what we are, and while there is wiggle room, the likelihood you'll turn from a basement dweller into George Clooney - even just charisma-wise - is unlikely.
As I said, I know this from experience. I'm not handsome, not by a long shot. Albeit I dress well, but the fact is I'm obese. Yet people have been telling me I'm insightful, intelligent, charismatic, and whatever the fuck since I was barely an adult. In hindsight, when random people started consistently telling me that, I was a fucking knucklehead back then.
Fast-forward to today, I out-earn my peers who've acquired the prestigious degrees by a massive margin, and I still get the same comments from clients I meet out there in the real world. How people perceive you has a lot to do with intangible qualities that you either have or you don't.