Confusion Is a Muse(notes.eatonphil.com)
notes.eatonphil.com
Confusion Is a Muse
https://notes.eatonphil.com/2024-06-14-confusion-is-a-muse.html
3 comments
People often feel a need to feel superior to other people. When you know something that someone else doesn't, you feel superior. Some people take that a step further and make sure the other person knows that they're inferior because of it. It doesn't take a ton of that to make some want to hide that they don't know something.
At some point I heard the phrase: "Always be the dumbest guy in the room."
I've tried to live by this to various extents, and it's kind of a counter-intuitive phrase, but the more I've thought about it the more it's made sense.
For me the phrase encapsulates a few things:
- Surround yourself with people who are 'smarter' than you, you'll learn more
- Be humble. It's hard to learn anything when you're the 'expert' in everything.
- Give yourself and (by example) others permission/space to not know things
This article reminded me of that.
I've tried to live by this to various extents, and it's kind of a counter-intuitive phrase, but the more I've thought about it the more it's made sense.
For me the phrase encapsulates a few things:
- Surround yourself with people who are 'smarter' than you, you'll learn more
- Be humble. It's hard to learn anything when you're the 'expert' in everything.
- Give yourself and (by example) others permission/space to not know things
This article reminded me of that.
A muse named confusion. Conmusion?
Well said. I have seen this so many times, and it’s so frustrating. My wife – a Montessori teacher – said she routinely has kids refusing to admit that they don’t know how to do something.
I don’t know how or why the idea that lack of knowledge is shameful came about, but it’s antithetical to growth. Everyone fails. Embrace being wrong, and learn from it.