|
Incompetent people tend to overestimate their skill level
Something interesting happens to me whenever I try to learn a new skill. I tend to underestimate just how hard it's going to be. For some reason, part of me thinks I'm going to be naturally talented at it, even though I have no evidence for that being the case. In fact, an absence of evidence seems to lead to increased optimism in me.
This is a bad habit to have, as it means I can become depressed and disheartened as I discover just how bad I am at something. Rather than putting in the effort to improve I can go off in a sulk and think of all sorts of reasons why it was stupid to try that thing in the first place. It's a childish attitude that I have to fight, but I think it may be part of human nature. We all tend to overestimate our skill level when we start out.
In fact, there's even a name of this. It's called the Dunning-Krueger effect after two men who did a study into it.
They found that incompetent individuals generally overestimate their level of skill and can't recognize competence in others. In fact, the only time incompetent people realize how bad they actually are is when they start to develop some skill of their own.
I see this effect causing problems in people all the time. A classic example is investment. I often see people who are new to the investment game making terrible decisions with a high level of confidence. They do so simply because they seem to assume they're smarter than everyone else - even those with much more experience. It's crazy but true.
You can also see this occurring to tragic effect with young, male drivers. They assume they're highly skilled and do really stupid things as if they were trained stunt drivers. The number of them killed on our roads every year is testament to this.
The problem is that the Dunning-Krueger effect seems to be a built-in part of our nature. We can't prevent ourselves feeling this way from time-to-time. But at least we can recognise it and compensate.
When you take up a new thing, remind yourself that you're probably not going to be very good at it to begin with. When you inevitably stumble and fall during the early days, tell yourself that this is normal and not some major failing on your part.
Try not to make decisions in areas you don't have a lot of experience which may have large negative effects. If you're new to investment, make some small bets to begin with. If you're a new driver on the road, proceed with caution.
Most skills are learned through hard work and practice. Take this as your philosophy, and you'll not go far wrong in the world.
 | Finding your life's purpose | | Many people find life a bit meaningless. They fall into a routine of living day-to-day, with little to look forward to. Each moment seems to slip by into the void, with little achieved and no feeling of moving forward. |  | It’s not easy being happy when you’re not in control | | The basis for happiness is having control over your own existence. This is a simple and obvious statement, yet who among us has not ceded such control before? To assume responsibility for our lives can be a struggle, often it’s easier just to let outside forces take over. | | Don't get sucked in by the "it's all an emergency" mindset | | What is one of the biggest obstacles standing between most people and what they want? Other people of course. |  | No matter what you do, some people won't like you | | When I was a teenager, I worked out that convincing people to like me was a useful skill to have. I tried all sorts of strategies and experiments for doing just that. Soon, I became a virtual expert. | | How to motivate yourself without the mental crutch of positive thinking | | A few people have written in to say they think I'm too hard on positive thinking. I've been criticized because I haven't supplied an alternative for self-motivation. Fair enough. Here's how to motivate yourself without having to resort to the problem-filled strategy of positive thinking. | | Sometimes, irrational behavior can be explained by attention-seeking | | Why do people do so many things that are so obviously stupid? Why do they take drugs, commit crimes, ruin good relationships, and spend money they don't have? | | Be willing to crash and burn sometimes | | We all have trouble dealing with failure. We play so many mental tricks on ourselves in order to pretend we aren't avoiding it, that they can sometimes become all consuming. At night, while asleep, we have terrible nightmares of others disapproval, or the world rejecting us. | | From adversity comes greatness | | The challenges of the world sometimes seem ready to engulf us. Difficulty appears to stare out from every angle. But hardship and misfortune aren't always the evils they appear to be. |  | Ten good rules-of-thumb for investing | | I've been investing money for about 14 years now and have had more success than failure along the way. I've also read a large number of books and articles on good investment strategy. Here are my rules-of-thumb if you want to get ahead in the investment game. | | The secret of wealth is working easier, not harder | | Want to get rich? Just work hard and you will is the conventional wisdom. But the conventional wisdom is wrong. Since the dawn of humanity, the road to wealth has been through working easier, not harder. |
New articles are being added all the time, so make sure you bookmark Paul's Tips and come back.
|
|