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| "The Fall of Icarus" (1975) by Marc Chagall |
Think about the people you went to school with and have grown up with (include yourself). Can you describe someone (without naming names) who either seriously underestimated his or her ability or who seriously overestimated it?
Generally speaking, would you say that understimating your ability is worse than overestimating it?
What is the difference between underestimating your ability and being humble? What is the difference between overestimating your ability and being optimistic?
Do you know anyone whose public statements about their ability did not coincide with their actual beliefs?
I graduated a year early from high school. Whenever I tell people this fact about myself they say things like "you must be so smart" closely followed by a statement such as "I could never do that." I didn't know why that conversation always left me feeling uneasy but it did. As I have had this conversation many times I have finally learned how to express my feelings to the best of my ability. I now tell people that anyone could do what I did if they are just driven enough. Yes, it takes hard work and time management but it is not impossible. I think that this is a perfect example of people underestimating their abilities. Just because they have never tried they run in the other direction. Maybe they fear the unknown or failure but I honestly believe that if they really put 100% effort into the situation they would succeed. -Kate Draper
ReplyDeleteI understand why you would feel uneasy when talking to people about your success. When I was in elementary gifted classes, I almost felt isolated. I didn't see myself as any different or better than anyone else, but it seemed as if the other students did. I am especially uncomfortable talking about it as an adult. It may be that I'm afraid I'll get the same reaction I did in school. One of the reasons I have chose to do this is I want people to know that no matter how old you are or how long you have been out of school, success is possible. Like you said, hard work and time management are key. -Brandi Trujillo
DeleteWhile I do see how that would get uncomfortable, and that some people meant it. It is also possible that, by saying they couldn’t do what you did, they were actually trying to compliment you, instead of underestimating their own abilities. While it might not be the best way to do so, they might be commending you for your hard work, because it is something they wouldn’t want to do. This is a very good example though, I was just trying to show another view! I also completely agree that if people put 100% effort into something, they are capable of more than they think!
DeleteI like your example, Kate. I also agree that people nowadays are way too eager to push aside something as too hard or view certain accomplishments as something they "could never do." Underestimating our abilities can really hinder our lives and careers. By using our abilities to the maximum, so many more of our goals could be accomplished.
DeleteHigh school was also a time for me that I had a 4.1 something and had all these accomplishments. I am not going to say I am the smartest person in the world because I am not, but I did work twice as hard as people on top of being a generally above average student. Every time I talked to someone that knew about me but we have not really had a conversation, the words, “Hey you’re that really smart kid” was usually my greeting. I, too, was always uneasy and never really sure how to respond to it so I would always brush it off with “kind of” or “sure.” Also, like you, I have taken the stand that I am an above average student that outworks his knowledge. Anyone can do anything they set their mind to and have the drive. No one is restricted to their environment.
DeleteI really like this example. As Honors Students, most of us are used to people making these kinds of statements about our intellect, and often times, such comments can make us feel uneasy. Like you, I used to not be sure why I would feel this way, but you explained it rather well. Anyone can grow and develop, being capable of great achievements such as skipping a grade in high school (not belittling your accomplishment, because it something to be proud of), but most do not want to work hard in order to attain goals like these. Instead, they underestimate their capabilities, having the fixed mindset that things are just "too hard."
Delete“Go big or go home.” “You never know if you don’t try.” These quotes popped into my head when I think about overestimating ability. I one hundred percent believe that underestimating one’s ability is worse than overestimating it. I use overestimating my abilities as a safety net. For example, I had a zoology lab notebook due last semester and there was a list of requirements. On this list ranged from what the professor called the “bare minimum” to examples of what the student could do to improve their notebook; such as pictures, coordinates, etc. Although I knew I could get and A on the assignment with the bare minimum, I always worry about messing up. So I took pictures and wrote coordinates down because I knew if I screwed up on the simple things that the extra aspects of the notebook would make up for the points. Yes, it did take a little extra time to take and insert photos and whatnot, but I think that effort is the key to success. Don’t let your potential go to waste. Go big and take the chance, because you’ll look back and wish you’d gone that extra mile. I guarantee it.
ReplyDeleteI had a close friend in high school who I always studied and shared notes with. She would always say things like "I wish I was as smart as you," or "I am never going to do as good on this test as you." However, when we would discuss the topics we were being tested on, she knew just as much, if not more than me. She would spew out facts and statistics, tell me almost anything I asked about the topic, and concisely get her point across. The only thing holding her back was her fixed mindset. She believed that she was not as smart as the other students, therefore, she never did as well in class. She had enormous potential that she refused to see. Due to this she finished most of these classes with C's and D's. I believe that underestimating your ability in this way is worse than overestimating it because at least when you overestimate, you will have stretched yourself out as far as you can go, even if you fall short of what you thought. When a person is humble, they know their ability, they just refuse to show it off and gloat about it. A person who underestimates their ability, doesn't actually know their true potential. A person who is optimistic is hopeful and confident about their ability, while an over estimator just expects their ability to be something unattainable. I feel like a good example of people who's public statements do not coincide with their beliefs are politicians. I feel that most politicians say whatever they think will help them get votes/support, rather than speaking up for their true beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThere was a guy that I graduated high school with who was a prime example of seriously overestimated talent. In everything he did, sports, school, or otherwise, he always thought that he was more talented than everyone else. He thought he should have more playing time, make the best grades, and many other things just because of who he was. He also thought that he was quite a catch as well. Unfortunately, he did not have the talent to back up his inflated thoughts about himself and did not have any desire to work very hard to change that. Instead of believing that he could be the best with hard work, he believed that he was already the best.
ReplyDeleteI believe that underestimating yourself is actually better than overestimation. Underestimation leaves you room to grow and maybe even surprise yourself with how much you can actually do and achieve. Overestimation however, for someone in a fixed mindset anyway, can potentially make you feel like a failure if you cannot live up to the high standards that you have set for yourself.
-Kaylee George
I never thought of underestimation as leaving you room to grow. That is really great insight. I think that it is something that an individual would have to work at just to see that there is a possibility for growth, and I know that can be hard with a fixed mindset. That opened a whole new outlook for me, truly.
Delete-Lindsey Wallace
I think there are negative aspects of both underestimating your ability and overestimating your ability. For me personally, I have struggled so much with underestimating myself and what I am capable of. I have missed out on so much just because I didn't think that I was good enough, like SCOBDA for example. Partially I think it has to do with me being so shy, but none the less, I think it would be nice to be confident in my abilities, but in no way would I want to be overly cocky.
ReplyDeleteI have been told that I underestimate my abilities, but I like it that way. Sometimes it’s more of an outward underestimation, while I actually think I’m capable of doing something. I think I do this because don’t want people to think I’m arrogant, or look like a fool when I don’t do it. Another part, is that I can’t stand when people openly, extremely, overestimate themselves. So, I think that underestimating is better than overestimating, as long as it is in a healthy manner that doesn’t hold the person back from what they are truly capable of. I should try to gage my abilities more accurately, and be more tolerant of the people who overestimate their abilities. Although, I don’t think that slightly underestimating, or overestimating, one’s abilities is that big of a downfall, as long as one does stay humble and optimistic.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I've displayed tendencies that are often linked with an optimistic view and,occasionally, overestimation. I am proud to possess a positive outlook on life. It keeps me looking forward to necoming the things I strive to be. I have often noticed this behavior in sharp contrast with a close friend of mine. She is absolutely brilliant, but takes things at a slower pace in her efforts to defy a reading disorder. She reads constantly, but is prone to ignore her schoolwork. She hides behind excuses such as, "I'm not as smart as...", or,"You know how my grades are."
ReplyDeleteIn this light, I am always glad that I listened as my mom advised me that is was, "better to be the intimidator than the intimidated." I would rather deal with the repercussions of overestimating myself than be held captive by underestimation. However, I do believe that we should all try to be humble. We should be able to know our capabilities without being braggart about them.
--Sierra Rankin
My very best friend is always underestimating her ability, which has led her to settle when I believe she can do bigger and better things! Part of the problem is that she doesn't believe in her ability and her parents are so fixed in their mindsets that they do not believe in her and they do not encourage her or try and nudge her to do better things, instead they purposely try and hold her back so that she doesn't move out of her house until she is married. Their mindset is fixed to the point where they believe women are meant to be housewives and need to stay home and take care of the kids instead of trying to get a degree if you have the ability, which my friend does. These mindsets affect her and have been a cause of her choosing to stay home and just do a two year community college waiting for a specific boy to come home that she can marry (he is on a mission trip) rather than getting the experience of a university, which I know she secretly wants.
ReplyDeleteI believe that overestimating your ability is worse than underestimating it because if you underestimate your ability and it turns out you can do more, there is room to grow.If you over estimate your ability and cannot live up to that,you also have room to grow but the chances of wanting to try and grow after disappointment are slimmer.
I grew up with a fixed mindset. I always hid from anything I thought was beyond my capability. I can remember a specific time in the 5th grade when I wanted to try out for the softball team. I had not played sports in the past and my parents weren't athletic. I convinced myself without trying that I was not good enough to be on a team. After the players had been chosen and were well into the softball season, we had an outside event at school. One of the games that we were able to compete in was the softball throw. I ended up getting first place. Even after that I convinced myself that it was just luck and that I had no skill. Though it was only a softball throw, I now believe that if I had tried I may have succeeded in learning to play. I underestimated my ability. As I think back to all the times I was too afraid to try new things because of fear of failure, I'd say that underestimating your abilities is worse that overestimating. You will never know if you could have made that shot if you don't try. Mindset is changing the way I have viewed challenges my whole life. I am ready to change my mindset and redefine my outlook on failure.
ReplyDelete-Brandi Trujillo
I believe that to underestimate you ability would be the worst of the two. If you underestimate you ability to do and complete things you will never know truly how far you can go in life. I would much rather overestimated my ability, fail, and the get right back up and try again until I reach it then never even trying. An example I would like to show my point was being accepted into this honors program. I almost didn't apply out of the fear of not being smart enough to make it. I did not personally think that I had the right ability to be considered a member. When I told my mom if these thoughts, she told me I was crazy and that if I wanted the stars all I had to do was simply grab them. She proved to me that underestimating my ability won't help anything.
ReplyDelete-Brooke hill
Likewise, I was also scared to apply for the program because I wasn't confident in my abilities. I might have been at the top of the class in high school, but what if I was just average when I moved off? I might not have been turned away from the program, but I could have started and then not excelled. One of my greatest strengths though is that I am incredibly hard-working and I'm able to persevere. I had to remind myself that the reason I was at the top in high school was because I worked towards it, and if I tried, I could do it again in college. Underestimating your ability is worse because you don't know what you're capable of if you never try.
DeleteI personally would rather overestimate myself rather than to back down from something because I did not think I was good enough to achieve a goal. If I fail, then it was a learning experience and I now know my abilities. But if I underestimated myself in the first place, I would never know if I could have achieved my goals and I would always have doubts about if I could have done it or not.
ReplyDeleteI have always found interesting the correlation between one’s ability and the way that individual perceives it. While many times their perception can be based on their ego or level of humbleness, I feel like I have noticed somewhat of a pattern that most people can find that they are in or used to be in. This pattern basically shows that beginners of a particular ability tend to overestimate their skill much more than an intermediate for example. This seems to come from the fact that beginners will get very excited about any noticeable improvement they find in themselves, giving them considerable confidence, even in areas the might not be quite so good at yet. In contrast, a more intermediate learner will often notice their improvements as well, but by the time they have reached their level, they will realize these improvements do not make them a master. They will know these improvements are just a part of the many small steps it takes to master an ability. I believe this is the better mindset to have considering that overestimating one’s ability can often cause disappointment in both the individual and in others. Underestimating is better because by presenting oneself as of a lower level can often cause a pleasant surprise in the case that their ability was actually better. Lastly, an individual’s level of confidence in their skill and their level of humbleness are not always directly correlated. For example, the individual can be confident in their ability and also be humble so long as they are not trying to flaunt that ability in the face of others.
ReplyDelete- Jacob Talkington
Confidence is one of the most important skills we learn to foster and moderate throughout high school. I don’t quite agree with Dweck that people are terribly inaccurate at estimating their abilities solely because of their mindset. People today can’t estimate their ability due to a disconnect with reality and our ability to think critically and honestly with ourselves has diminished as an effect. We live in a society now where success is the meaning of life, this makes both mindsets crucial in the function of society, the fixed mindset people being those who underestimate, but take no time in getting their work done and see failure as an obstacle, and then the growth mindset individuals take a slower more skilled approach and achieve greater success. This consequently raises the bar for fixed mindset people, as a result the cycle begins again. The problem today is that success is God and we all strive for it, but once we fail or even reach society’s so-called God we are left empty handed. This creates the disconnect with reality those who have succeeded now have a role to play in fostering the same drive and ambition in those who are young. The young and “upcoming” if you will, are then taught that the top is where we all should strive to be those who don’t agree should stay put at the bottom. It is very obvious that not everyone will reach the heights of fame and fortune displayed by most wealthy individuals in America, so why do we chase such a false reality? We continue to chase this dream because we are slowly turning away from the thing the provides clear and sound analyses of questions of life, and that is the word of God. We will continue to foster our kids into this life of existential crisis and most of the time disappointment until we analyze that what is truly valuable and worth spending your entire life chasing is God. You should strive to be humble even among the many blessing you may possess, as to not foster covetousness in others around you. Both false humility or self-degradation and boastfulness are bad , so I would say neither are worse than the other. This all stems back to your ability to control yourself and have confidence not in yourself, but in Christ.
ReplyDeleteRick Warren said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” This is how I have always tried to approach the fine line that separates underestimating yourself and being humble. It is not necessary to down play one’s ability in order to remain humble, instead one might simply try to view one’s ability accurately and in the right moments. In the same way, I believe that one can remain optimistic without overestimating one’s ability by viewing the situation in an optimistic light and trying to remain positive despite obstacles rather than immediately believing only one’s abilities will allow them to prevail.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking, overestimating your ability is worse. Although it could teach a lesson it can lead to arrogance. Being confident is a huge part of sports and what makes athletes successful, there is no line to define how overconfident someone is until they fail. Underestimating can also have negative effects. If you aren’t confident in your abilities you won’t try new and harder tasks that could lead to greatness, by underestimating yourself you won’t achieve as much.
ReplyDeleteI've always been one to underestimate myself aggressively. I'm not quite sure where it steams from, but I know that it's not really something that you actively choose to do. Lots of times when I try to think about why I am doubting myself so much, I think that I am trying to avoid disappointing a person who has high hopes for me. I think the difference between underestimating yourself and being humble is that when you are humble, you know what you can accomplish, but you don't broadcast it to the entire world. Underestimating yourself is thinking that you cannot do a simple task without ruining it. It is important to have confidence inside of yourself so that you are capable of living your life without constant despair and grief. When you change your mindset to one that can see your own true worth, you can do almost anything.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if your mindset changes to one where you see yourself as an omnipotent, end all be all being that can do anything all the time, you become obnoxious and delusional. This kind of attitude makes people see you as someone that people don't want to be around. We all know that person. Maybe it's the guy at the gym with a cut-off t-shirt, a gallon of water, and annoying grunt. This could be that one person you've had in class that monopolizes the conversation and make sure that no one else's voices can be heard. You have to find a good balance between the two. While I am a person who underestimates myself so much that at times I thought that I was incapable of doing anything but wasting space, I can see that I have worth.
I can remember one specific time during middle school where one of my friends shocked everyone else in gym class. During gym class, usually everybody plays basketball and picks teams, play pickup games, or play small games like PIG or HORSE. One day, the coach said "Okay everyone, we are going to have a free throw competition, so everybody get in line and we will go one at a time to see who can make the most free throws in a row." So everybody starts trying to make as many free throws in a row as they can, and it gets to me and I'm really confident as I step up to the line. I make three in a row, which wasn't horrible but I wished I had done better. Then, the last person in line steps up to the line. This person being one of my good friends. He never was the most athletic, he never spoke up in class or in the gym, and he was probably the last person I would've though to win this free throw challenge. But to everybody's (including mine) amazement, he sunk 12 free throws in a row, winning the free throw competition. I think he didn't over or underestimate his abilities, he was just VERY humble about himself. He knew he was good, and he didn't care if anybody else knew that or not. When it came time to show off his skills, he did it with grace and humility. He was happy he won of course, but he didn't brag. That was probably the best example of being humble about one's own ability that I can think of.
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