I assume I'm below average • Hacker News Board

Re: I assume I'm below average

#81

Post by pbhjpbhj » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:18 PM UTC

HSO wrote: post #55

It's a nice attitude to have in a perfect world but what about this one? In many contexts, especially where there is high noise to signal, people will tend to believe/bet on/buy/hire/have sex with the guy who seems so (possibly over-) confident and makes lots of (possibly empty) promises over the guy who is humble and annoyingly realistic. I can't remember which firm but the leader of a cosmetics firm once said "we d…

Charles Revson - "in our advertising we sell hope", http://quotationsbook.com/quote/5212/.

Re: I assume I'm below average

#82

Post by shughes » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:20 PM UTC

JangoSteve wrote: post #77

shughes wrote: post #74

If you're overly confident, assume you're just average. If you lack confidence, assume you're better than everyone else. I think it's a matter of knowing where you stand in the range of low to high confidence, and then trying to balance it out.

Lacking confidence and thinking you're better than everyone else can lead to very bad things.

More confidence? I guess it not so simple since you're interpreting it in a different way than I am.

Re: I assume I'm below average

#83

Post by tmugavero » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:23 PM UTC

Inspiring stuff, but I don't think you have to necessarily assume you are below average. You can assume you're great and create this state of mind naturally if you strive to surround yourself with exceptional people. It naturally creates a condition of student / teacher when the people around you are experts. I guess it's just another way of looking at finding motivation to learn. Great reminder regardless.

Re: I assume I'm below average

#84

Post by pbhjpbhj » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:25 PM UTC

wheels wrote: post #18

sivers wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See the top of 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.

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.

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.

Re: I assume I'm below average

#85

Post by StuffMaster » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:30 PM UTC

gkoberger wrote: post #5

My take on this is slightly different. I think people have different opinions on what above average means. Take the driving example. I may say I'm an above average driver, since I have good reflexes and can drive at high speeds. However, someone else might say they're a good driver because they follow the speed limit. I think the reason everyone thinks they're above average is because they are- they're just above ave…

Your driving example is actually characteristic of how men and women differ on the issue. And the opposite is true of accidents: men, who fancy themselves better drivers, get in far more serious accidents due to aggressive and reckless behavior, and women, who fancy themselves safer/better, (supposedly) get in far more fender benders with slow moving or parked cars (possibly do to spatial perception).

Re: I assume I'm below average

#86

Post by JangoSteve » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:46 PM UTC

shughes wrote: post #82

JangoSteve wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lacking confidence and thinking you're better than everyone else can lead to very bad things.

More confidence? I guess it not so simple since you're interpreting it in a different way than I am.

Confidence does not mean thinking you're better than everyone else. It means realizing it doesn't matter.

Re: I assume I'm below average

#87

Post by lincolnq » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 3:17 PM UTC

galois wrote: post #23

I would often assume people I met were smarter than I was. I was proven wrong time and time again.

Is it better to be right more often, or to assume the best of anyone you meet?

Re: I assume I'm below average

#88

Post by thaumaturgy » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 4:10 PM UTC

rmc wrote: post #69

It's quite possible for more than 50% of people to be above average drivers. If there are 100 people, and 80 of them cause no accidents, and the other 20 cause 10 accidents each, then there are 2 accidents per driver. 80% have less than average accident rate. By the same logic it's possible for most people to have a below average salary. Once extremes are possible, then averages start being less applicable. However f…

Yes, you're exactly right. The quote that drives this home for me is, "Most people have an above average number of legs."

Re: I assume I'm below average

#89

Post by eru » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 5:12 PM UTC

wheaties wrote: post #79

gkoberger wrote: post #5

My take on this is slightly different. I think people have different opinions on what above average means. Take the driving example. I may say I'm an above average driver, since I have good reflexes and can drive at high speeds. However, someone else might say they're a good driver because they follow the speed limit. I think the reason everyone thinks they're above average is because they are- they're just above ave…

That's an interesting thought. To say that 96% of people rate themselves a better driver because they customize their criteria to reflect what they value is quite insightful.

Humans think they are on the apex of the shrub of live, because they have big brains.

I guess fish would define sophistication as a nice swim bladder.

Re: I assume I'm below average

#90

Post by eru » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 5:13 PM UTC

arnorhs wrote: post #64

gkoberger wrote: post #5

My take on this is slightly different. I think people have different opinions on what above average means. Take the driving example. I may say I'm an above average driver, since I have good reflexes and can drive at high speeds. However, someone else might say they're a good driver because they follow the speed limit. I think the reason everyone thinks they're above average is because they are- they're just above ave…

You might be right about that. For curiosity's sake, what do you base your reflex speed on?

Playing Doom.