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What was more difficult for me in college was getting used to having lower marks than I was accustomed to. My high school life wasn't so great whereas my grades

What was more difficult for me in college was getting used to having lower marks than I was accustomed to. My high school life wasn't so great whereas my grades were decent, so my identity became entirely wrapped around my grades and academic success. Anytime I faltered academically it precipitated an identity crisis - I started shying away from challenging courses. I think even just the idea that you might not be as bright as you think you are would be a nice kick in the pants for otherwise bright students to really accomplish a lot in life.

bane 11y ago
There's a growing body of work that seems to show that students in high-achieving countries from Asia (Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc.) have a very low opinion of their abilities -- and there's some thought that this attitude seems to be helpful in encouraging study.
- peterfirefly 11y ago
  Knuth wrote something along the same lines about himself: he didn't think he was all that good so he worked his ass off (and got a bleeding ulcer back in the 60's). Of course, he was all that good and the hard work certainly didn't make him less good.
peterfirefly 11y ago
I've heard about that being a thing in the US (I don't know where you are from). I've never met anybody who actually fell into that trap, so there might be interesting cultural issues at play. Personally, I got humbled early on when I realized that I wouldn't be able to read all the interesting books in the world. I wouldn't even be able to keep up with just the new interesting books being published. A very sad day, that was. It was a simple matter of reading (and not quite understanding) a few real books aimed at researchers to see that some people were far brighter than me. Just like some were far better at drawing or playing football or high jumping. I count on someone (or many someones) being better than me at absolutely every single thing that I might be good at. Hopefully, the talent profile I have will be good enough anyway, especially if I work hard and avoid winner-takes-all areas. (It did take a long time to learn how to apply myself, though, after so many years of enforced boredom.)

bane 11y ago

There's a growing body of work that seems to show that students in high-achieving countries from Asia (Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc.) have a very low opinion of their abilities -- and there's some thought that this attitude seems to be helpful in encouraging study.

peterfirefly 11y ago
Knuth wrote something along the same lines about himself: he didn't think he was all that good so he worked his ass off (and got a bleeding ulcer back in the 60's). Of course, he was all that good and the hard work certainly didn't make him less good.

peterfirefly 11y ago

I've heard about that being a thing in the US (I don't know where you are from). I've never met anybody who actually fell into that trap, so there might be interesting cultural issues at play. Personally, I got humbled early on when I realized that I wouldn't be able to read all the interesting books in the world. I wouldn't even be able to keep up with just the new interesting books being published. A very sad day, that was. It was a simple matter of reading (and not quite understanding) a few real books aimed at researchers to see that some people were far brighter than me. Just like some were far better at drawing or playing football or high jumping. I count on someone (or many someones) being better than me at absolutely every single thing that I might be good at. Hopefully, the talent profile I have will be good enough anyway, especially if I work hard and avoid winner-takes-all areas. (It did take a long time to learn how to apply myself, though, after so many years of enforced boredom.)