4 ms·

I agree. To be fair, it's not new (only magnified). I remember a kid in highschool in the 90's. He was the best in our entire highschool at math. Any math c

I agree. To be fair, it's not new (only magnified). I remember a kid in highschool in the 90's. He was the best in our entire highschool at math. Any math contest in our school, he would win it. He go accepted into Aerospace engineering at an elite university. Suddenly, his math skills were only mediocre compared to his new peers. He became depressed after this. He was always the "math guy"... now what is he? That was in the 90's.

ascar 8y ago
I think it helps in such cases to remember that just being in such a position puts you in the top and being mediocre across very talented peers is an achievement. It always helped me when moving up ranks in activities, when I hit my ceiling.
- ivanmaeder 8y ago
  Also reminds me of the idea of fixed vs growth mindsets. > Suddenly, his math skills were only mediocre compared to his new peers. He became depressed after this. With a fixed mindset, you think your ability is static and so it can get you down when you stop being at the top. With the growth mindset you know that your ability is not static and can get better with effort. Think of the opportunity he had to learn from his new peers. Hopefully he got over the depression.
r_c_a_d 8y ago
My tutor at university understood this very well. In my first week he told my tutor group "At school you were all the best, now it is likely that half of you are below average". Another thing I noticed at university was "improvers syndrome". When I took up some new sport or hobby, I always thought I wasn't progressing very well, because I was comparing myself to the people around me who were all improving too. It was only at the start of a new year when lots of newbies arrived that I realised how much I had progressed.
- distances 8y ago
  > My tutor at university understood this very well. In my first week he told my tutor group "At school you were all the best, now it is likely that half of you are below average". This was told to us as well, with a reminder that some of us never had to do much work in high school -- this was about to change. There were multiple people who just didn't know how to study any more, and dropped out. Personally, I almost gave up programming in university when I saw there are others who are so much better than me, thinking I'm missing some innate gift they had. I'm glad I soon realized that I'm actually one of the better ones anyway, just not the absolute top of the class I was used to being in my small home town.
  - deleted 8y ago
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  - deleted 8y ago
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JohnBooty 8y ago
> I remember a kid in highschool in the 90's. He was the > best in our entire highschool at math. Any math contest > in our school, he would win it. I think that's an awakening a lot of people on HN have probably experienced! A lot of us were "the smart kids" until at some point when we found ourselves in an environment where we were surrounded by other people just like us when suddenly we were very average or even below average. There's also the related phenomenon, where a smart kid NEVER moves on to an environment where they are intellectually challenged and they develop an ego problem. We all know somebody like this, right? You know: smart kid slacks his way through high school. Doesn't do college or work his way into some kind of career. Winds up working some menial job where he's a super genius compared to his coworkers, so he winds up thinking he's a super genius.
- random_kris 8y ago
  I had this problem... Was one of the best in primmary school, not the best but in the top of highschool, then I spectatulary failed my university :(
  - JohnBooty 8y ago
    Maybe you just never learned how to buckle down and study because school was so easy for you in the early days! SUPER common problem among anybody who was able to do well in school with little effort at some point
cmrdporcupine 8y ago
Getting a job at Google has done this to me in regards to programming. For the last 7 years I've felt like an impostor whereas before I grew irritated by the mediocrity around me.
- xtxt 8y ago
  After watching how Google engineers interact with engineers from other companies, this checks out. It's very easy to believe that everyone there is irritated by the mediocrity of the world outside of Google when they have to interact with it.
  - cmrdporcupine 8y ago
    Don't underestimate the internal mediocrity at Google. It's just not so much technical mediocrity as organizational.
- PascLeRasc 8y ago
  Which would you say you're happier with?
  - cmrdporcupine 8y ago
    That I can't say for certain, because there's many definitions of happiness but I know where I get paid more and treated better.

ascar 8y ago

I think it helps in such cases to remember that just being in such a position puts you in the top and being mediocre across very talented peers is an achievement. It always helped me when moving up ranks in activities, when I hit my ceiling.

ivanmaeder 8y ago
Also reminds me of the idea of fixed vs growth mindsets. > Suddenly, his math skills were only mediocre compared to his new peers. He became depressed after this. With a fixed mindset, you think your ability is static and so it can get you down when you stop being at the top. With the growth mindset you know that your ability is not static and can get better with effort. Think of the opportunity he had to learn from his new peers. Hopefully he got over the depression.

r_c_a_d 8y ago

My tutor at university understood this very well. In my first week he told my tutor group "At school you were all the best, now it is likely that half of you are below average". Another thing I noticed at university was "improvers syndrome". When I took up some new sport or hobby, I always thought I wasn't progressing very well, because I was comparing myself to the people around me who were all improving too. It was only at the start of a new year when lots of newbies arrived that I realised how much I had progressed.

distances 8y ago
> My tutor at university understood this very well. In my first week he told my tutor group "At school you were all the best, now it is likely that half of you are below average". This was told to us as well, with a reminder that some of us never had to do much work in high school -- this was about to change. There were multiple people who just didn't know how to study any more, and dropped out. Personally, I almost gave up programming in university when I saw there are others who are so much better than me, thinking I'm missing some innate gift they had. I'm glad I soon realized that I'm actually one of the better ones anyway, just not the absolute top of the class I was used to being in my small home town.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

JohnBooty 8y ago

> I remember a kid in highschool in the 90's. He was the > best in our entire highschool at math. Any math contest > in our school, he would win it. I think that's an awakening a lot of people on HN have probably experienced! A lot of us were "the smart kids" until at some point when we found ourselves in an environment where we were surrounded by other people just like us when suddenly we were very average or even below average. There's also the related phenomenon, where a smart kid NEVER moves on to an environment where they are intellectually challenged and they develop an ego problem. We all know somebody like this, right? You know: smart kid slacks his way through high school. Doesn't do college or work his way into some kind of career. Winds up working some menial job where he's a super genius compared to his coworkers, so he winds up thinking he's a super genius.

random_kris 8y ago
I had this problem... Was one of the best in primmary school, not the best but in the top of highschool, then I spectatulary failed my university :(
- JohnBooty 8y ago
  Maybe you just never learned how to buckle down and study because school was so easy for you in the early days! SUPER common problem among anybody who was able to do well in school with little effort at some point

cmrdporcupine 8y ago

Getting a job at Google has done this to me in regards to programming. For the last 7 years I've felt like an impostor whereas before I grew irritated by the mediocrity around me.

xtxt 8y ago
After watching how Google engineers interact with engineers from other companies, this checks out. It's very easy to believe that everyone there is irritated by the mediocrity of the world outside of Google when they have to interact with it.
- cmrdporcupine 8y ago
  Don't underestimate the internal mediocrity at Google. It's just not so much technical mediocrity as organizational.
PascLeRasc 8y ago
Which would you say you're happier with?
- cmrdporcupine 8y ago
  That I can't say for certain, because there's many definitions of happiness but I know where I get paid more and treated better.