Q:

How do really talented people in academia think about people who are less capable than them?

To be more specific, how do really top professors think about students who are much less smart than them, the students can be their Ph.D. students or just students who were taking his/her class.
This is a main problem I am concerned about when I have something I don't understand, and because of this, I am often hesitant to ask my professors or other friends, because I am afraid that they would look down upon me and think I am too stupid/useless/incapable, etc?
Can someone who know this give me some advice to overcome this unhealthy attitude?

A:

I wouldn't say I'm a 'top' professor - hopefully someday, heh - but here's my take on it.
I couldn't care less how 'smart' my students are or aren't. It's tough to quantify, and different people have different strengths, and it's easy to mistake knowledge/experience for intelligence. At any rate I feel that my job is the opposite of competing with my students in any respect. I want to help them do well in (class/research/etc.) and find it all interesting and rewarding.
I always urge my students to ask me for help if need be, because:

I do try to explain things well and clearly, but I don't always know if it totally gets across
All of my students are different in a gazillion respects, meaning that they're not all going to understand the same things easily
Providing extra assistance is part of my job!

I tell my undergrads that someone who has gotten an A in my class and gotten lots of help from me deserves that A exactly as much as someone who has gotten an A in my class with no help. Everyone is entitled to my assistance, even on a weekly basis or whatever. I don't think poorly of students who request extra assistance. The course is meant to have my students learn a thing or two; if they're a bit confused, I'm more than happy to clarify. The students I worry about the most are the ones who could benefit from extra help - which all of my students are permitted to seek whenever they'd like - but who haven't sought it out!
The only students I actually get at all impatient with are the ones who show indisputable signs of dishonesty or implausible excuse-making or picking on classmates or whatnot. Those ones irritate me. The rest are a joy, whether or not they seek extra help.

A:

As a relatively senior person at a relatively highly-rated place, and having experienced grad school and post-docs at elite places: in math, at least, the basic point is that we're all inadequate to really penetrate the most serious mysteries. Check. So, by the harshest standard, we all fail. Ok, so that's not such an interesting standard. In grad school at an elite place, it quickly became clear that an absolute novice could not interestingly or usefully "compete with" the decades-more-experienced faculty. Check. But the real point was that asking (inescapably naive) questions of such people was a terrific opportunity, which few people have. If ego were in play, it just diminished acquisition of critical, rare information. Bad.
My subsequent experience and observation: well, sure, people vary. Some people are quick, some are quick-but-shallow, some are slower, etc. Some are more ego-oriented, which I think impairs investigation of serious mathematical things, since, by this year, the low-hanging fruit that anyone cares about has been picked. So what remains is inevitably going to be less-immediately gratifying, etc. 
In any case, smartness (or height, or handsomeness, or ...) is not a moral virtue. Plus, having a good head but not applying it, or having various perversely nonconstructive bad attitudes, is less effectual than having more modest brains but being focused and sincere (perhaps less ego-ful). 
That is, what gets my respect involves not so much the individual's personal gifts, but how they use those gifts, that is, to advance mathematics in contrast to advancing just themselves. That kind of thing.

A:

People say stupid stuff all the time, even 'top professors'. I believe that most professors would not judge you for asking a question about something you don't understand. Even if what you ask is silly.
If you feel shy about asking questions during lectures, visit the professor during office hours.
I can tell you from experience that professors usually will not remember what questions you asked, but they will remember that you asked questions. At the very least that shows that you are making an effort and they will probably view you in a more positive light than before.
Another thing to keep in mind:
If you don't ask questions and do poorly in the class, the professor will probably think that you do not care about the class and that is why you did poorly.
If you do poorly despite asking questions, the professor may think that you made an effort, and you deserve a better grade than the guy who didn't care.

