Confident idiocy

[bunn]

I read this article http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/confident-idiots-92793  which goes into some detail about how Everyone Is Wrong About Everything

Comments

[anna_wing]

I've noticed this too - a tendency to think that one is stupid because one does not have a skill. I am not sure where it comes from, apart from general insecurity. The point about skills is that they are acquired by training and practice. I keep telling people that drawing, for example, is a purely technical skill, like riding a bicycle, and needs no aptitude whatsoever, just perseverance, but no one ever believes it.

[bunn]

Exactly. OK, there are the lucky souls who learn some things so fast that it doesnt' look like they are learning at all, but this isn't the norm, and I hate that people end up feeling stupid and useless and giving up!

[wellinghall]

I hace been getting annoyed by older people refusing to learn.

Why, yes, I have been spending a few days with my parents, and seeing aunts and uncles; why do you ask?

[bunn]

I'm so proud of the fact that my mum's attitude to new technology is to google for instructions. I mean, she does ask for help sometimes, but it's always a last resort.

[wellinghall]

Good for her!