Ever feel stupid?

I often do. Well, not so much that I am, but that I may be. Uncertainty of whether I'm getting someone's irony -- sad, because I really like irony. I always feel I'm taking a gamble in taking something literally. But too many times I've assumed something was intended ironically and been wrong.

Paradox: I'm usually pretty sure about my judgments. But at other time I see this very self-assurance as a danger, that I might be marching into folly because I'm not questioning myself. Then I recognize that self-doubt is paralyzing me.

I hate days like this.