4 ms·

See the top of http://sivers.org/book/ArtOfLearning http://sivers.org/book/ArtOfLearning The fixed theory of intelligence versus the growth/incremental. You'r

by sivers 16y ago

See the top of http://sivers.org/book/ArtOfLearning http://sivers.org/book/ArtOfLearning The fixed theory of intelligence versus the growth/incremental. You're right: no use to be an Eeyore and assume you're doomed. But if you're dedicated to learning, then assuming you're currently below average keeps you learning harder than if you assume you're most of the way there.

wheels 16y ago
The approach I find myself taking is to keep moving the goal posts by putting myself in groups where I genuinely am below average, or at a minimum where there are prominent examples around me of people much better than me at the thing I'm trying to do. There's also something about approaching one's limits that helps distill genuine personal weaknesses and learn to either live with or work around them.
- zackattack 16y ago
  Excellent comment. I also try to put myself in groups where I genuinely am below average, and I think it accelerates my learning curve. But it's also good to be Top Dog from time to time; the teacher often can learn more than the student.
  - lsc 16y ago
    > But it's also good to be Top Dog from time to time; the teacher often can learn more than the student. Even in those cases, I think there is an advantage to choosing people who have the potential to become better than you are. It's really gratifying to teach someone something, and then watch them grow to the point where they know more than you do on the subject.
- jeffffff 16y ago
  agreed, deluding yourself into believing that you're below average is about as useful as deluding yourself into believing that you're above average. considering yourself below average at everything is indicative of low self esteem which is really bad for your mental health. a much better approach is to take things you want to be better at, subdivide them into skills that you can actually improve, and then improve those skills. really average has nothing to do with it, as average is usually pretty bad. the average programmer, where a programmer is defined as anyone who has ever written a computer program, is not cut out to be a professional programmer. it is way more important to know your strengths and weaknesses in terms of meeting your goals so you can improve your weaknesses rather than worrying about being average.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago
  At the end of school (17-18 years old) I was top of my class. I got the best exam results in my town. I expected to breeze Uni, I sailed through the first year and some of the second, breezed some higher (3rd/4th year honours) classes for which I had a natural aptitude. I realised not long after starting that I was more intelligent than some of my class but by no means all but also tellingly lacked their drive and ability to knuckle down. There were several others that were completely out of my league in all aspects. Sadly I'm still kinda there wallowing in that [self-]defeat 12 years on.

by sivers 16y ago

wheels 16y ago

The approach I find myself taking is to keep moving the goal posts by putting myself in groups where I genuinely am below average, or at a minimum where there are prominent examples around me of people much better than me at the thing I'm trying to do. There's also something about approaching one's limits that helps distill genuine personal weaknesses and learn to either live with or work around them.

zackattack 16y ago
Excellent comment. I also try to put myself in groups where I genuinely am below average, and I think it accelerates my learning curve. But it's also good to be Top Dog from time to time; the teacher often can learn more than the student.
- lsc 16y ago
  > But it's also good to be Top Dog from time to time; the teacher often can learn more than the student. Even in those cases, I think there is an advantage to choosing people who have the potential to become better than you are. It's really gratifying to teach someone something, and then watch them grow to the point where they know more than you do on the subject.
jeffffff 16y ago
agreed, deluding yourself into believing that you're below average is about as useful as deluding yourself into believing that you're above average. considering yourself below average at everything is indicative of low self esteem which is really bad for your mental health. a much better approach is to take things you want to be better at, subdivide them into skills that you can actually improve, and then improve those skills. really average has nothing to do with it, as average is usually pretty bad. the average programmer, where a programmer is defined as anyone who has ever written a computer program, is not cut out to be a professional programmer. it is way more important to know your strengths and weaknesses in terms of meeting your goals so you can improve your weaknesses rather than worrying about being average.
pbhjpbhj 16y ago
At the end of school (17-18 years old) I was top of my class. I got the best exam results in my town. I expected to breeze Uni, I sailed through the first year and some of the second, breezed some higher (3rd/4th year honours) classes for which I had a natural aptitude. I realised not long after starting that I was more intelligent than some of my class but by no means all but also tellingly lacked their drive and ability to knuckle down. There were several others that were completely out of my league in all aspects. Sadly I'm still kinda there wallowing in that [self-]defeat 12 years on.