According to research done by David Dunning and Justin Kruger, "it's when we lack competence that we're most likely to be brimming with overconfidence" (38).
Option A:
Describe a time in your life when you were inexperienced and overconfident, but as you learned more, you became less confident.
Option B:
Do you think overconfidence or a lack of confidence is a greater challenge for you personally?
Option C:
Think about the people you come across in your personal life. Do they tend to be drawn towards those who are overconfident but ignorant? Or do they tend to be drawn towards people who are knowledgeable but modest? Do the same standards apply in interpersonal interactions as they do with celebrity culture? What kind of person is more popular in different contexts?
The greatest challenge personally is undoubtedly lack of confidence. The reason why it is more of an issue in comparison to overconfidence is because I have no reason to become overconfident. I have never reached the point of overconfidence(to my knowledge) because I understand that there is always more to learn or more experience to gain. When I started my landscaping business I knew that I knew nothing and as I gained knowledge and experience I became comfortable rather than overconfident. The prevalent challenge of lacking confidence stems more in fear than anything else. It challenges me when having to make phone calls, write emails, and even ordering at restaurants. It is the fear of being wrong or sounding stupid that drains my confidence. Doubts in my abilities and in my knowledge contribute as well. Lack of confidence is a challenge in my life but I have rethought many times of what I can do to overcome it when I need to.
ReplyDeleteSaul Padilla
I really like your comparison between comfortableness and overconfidence. I feel like that is a medium between confidence and competence, because although you are competent, you still recognize that there is room to learn and improve.
DeleteOption A:
ReplyDeleteIf you've seen my other comment, you will know how I liked writing scripts in high school, but you may not know that that made me really, really overconfident. For a while I had a pretty big ego on my head just because I thought I knew more about Spielberg and Tarantino than everyone else (as if it matters). I obsessively watched film essays on YouTube, but it took me a year or two later, looking back on that whole time now, to see that I was just being fed the same thing over and over again by equally overconfident people. I didn't like who I was, so I mellowed out. Now I realize I know less than I think, but I like to think of being humbled as a positive thing.
Lauren George
Option C
ReplyDeleteI think people are naturally drawn to people who are confident, even if they have no idea what they are talking about or doing. People like to feel reassured and safe, and they absolutely feel safer following someone who appears to have no doubts about what they are doing. people who can stand up and say this is what we are doing, and this is how it will go are always more popular than the kid who slouches and stutters while he explains how and why something works. An example of this school, the outgoing and talkative ones are normally among the most popular even if their grade point average is in the toilet. Compare that to the nerd who always has his head in a book and only talks to people about the homework. The best known celebrities are the loud and outgoing ones.
Luke West
Hey Luke! I agree with your idea that people do tend to be drawn to those who are confident. However, I think that is to a certain point. Personally, I think there is a pattern where people like the balance. For example, I think humans tend to gravitate towards those who are confident, yet humble. If the person leans too far into confidence, they may come off as arrogant and a know all. However, if the person leans too far into insecurity, they are seen as not taking charge enough. While this is a difficult balance to find, I think people prefer those who fall more in the middle of confident and modest. Someone who is willing to take charge, yet modest enough to allow others to if necessary.
DeleteMegan Lewis
Option B
ReplyDeleteOverconfidence is definitely a greater struggle for me than a lack of confidence. Pride has always been one of my weaknesses especially when it comes to school and athletics. Another area I can be prideful in is the way I live. Sometimes I think of myself as a better person than I really am. At times this can cause me to think of myself as better than other people when I, just like everyone else, have my share of weaknesses. Having a little more humility could definitely serve me well.
Option A:
ReplyDeleteI'm going through this situation right now. I've had a serious shock recently through ECU drumline practices. I started off very confident about my skills, I was well known throughout my school as a drummer and it was very uplifting to hear my name spoken about so much that I felt as if I was incredibly talented. When I started practicing with the ECU drumline though, I began to feel so much smaller and embarrassed at just how good these guys were, just how bad I am, and more. I'm still really embarrassed to play with those guys but I can only hope that my future confidence will be earned throughout this experience.
Option B:
ReplyDeleteI would I struggle with the lack of confidence rather than over confidence. I tend to second guess myself a lot and I sell myself short. I know that I am completely capable, but I overthink a lot and will convince myself otherwise. I need to work on believing in myself and knowing that I can and will.
-Anna Herd
I am going to take on Option A for this. I am going to say something that a lot of people might find controversial, but please hear me out here. I have a point with where I’m going. Furthermore, I'm not excusing any actions. I'm simply explaining my thought process along the way. This is going to be quite long, as I feel it's needed to adequately explain my feelings on the matter.
ReplyDeleteAs a child in America, you’re taught growing up that the Founding Fathers are perfect men who created a system that is perfect in every way. I was confident in that reality, and I felt comfortable with it for years.
Well, as I got older... I started learning the reality of things and I realized this was untrue. There are major problems in our system of government, and furthermore, the thing that upset me the most: the people who created it, the founders, weren't perfect either. As a kid, I loved Thomas Jefferson, and as a teenager learning about his huge slave plantation made things more complicated. It upset me that a man could write about how when you’re born you have inherent freedoms, but then also own slaves! I was confident that I hated the man. He was hypocritical and so clearly he didn't have anything of value to contribute.
As an adult who has now taken multiple history classes and read several books about Thomas Jefferson, I realized it isn’t black and white. It’s far more grey. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, and he also wrote some of the founding documents of this country that are quoted daily. It was irresponsible for me to not take both of these factors into account. He wasn’t perfect. Human slavery is one of the most inhumane things someone can have a role in, and I can't excuse that. Even if I disagree with almost every action he ever did though. I can't pretend that America and the parts that I quite enjoy, like Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, would be the same if Thomas Jefferson (the author of those words in the Declaration of Independence) hadn't existed.
My point is, I have to take people in the context they live in and live with the reality of humanity. How I figured this out was questioning what I believed in and not just accepting what people had taught me as irrebuttable fact. There are no superheroes or supervillains in reality. Only people, who are far from perfection.
- Cas Northcutt
Cas, although we may disagree on the historical reality of Thomas Jefferson’s life, I have great admiration for your understanding of human beings and our imperfections. I think we both understand that human beings have limits, and with limits comes vulnerability. So my question to you is: Do you believe human beings can be desirable without limitation and imperfection?
Delete-Noah Watkins
Option B:
ReplyDeleteLack of confidence is definitely one of the biggest things I deal with and as a result it can be challenging for me to have faith in myself, receive compliments well or believe people when they give them to me. I spend a lot of my life being not confident enough to do and wear or create the things that I want out of fear of embarrassment or failure, despite knowing it's not that serious, and most people are too busy paying attention to what they are worried about to worry about my insecurities. It’s a journey I’ve been on for a long time and continue to try and better myself through for my own happiness, though I do feel like my fear of failure (which comes from my lack of confidence) is a large motivator for me as ironic as it sounds.
I feel the same way. Although a lack of confidence can be detrimental in many ways, I have also found that my lack of confidence in some situations makes me want to work harder. It's almost like I need to compensate for my lack of self-assurance.
DeleteOption B -
ReplyDeleteLack of confidence has been something that has plagued me for my entire life. I tend to second guess myself no matter what I am doing, whether I have tons of experience with it or not. For example, this past year when I was writing papers for class, I would spend hours questioning everything I did, no matter its overall significance. My anxiety about it was way beyond a normal desire to achieve a good grade, so much so that it made it so much harder to do the work. After floundering around for an entire semester, I realized that in order to efficiently get work done, I needed to make a change. Eventually, I was able to gain enough confidence in myself that I no longer spent two hours agonizing over something unimportant to the work as a whole. However, writing is not the only place I lack confidence; there are other areas of my life I am working on my confidence in all the time; though it may take a long time for me to do so, I am proud of all the progress I make no matter the size.
Option B:
ReplyDeleteWhile it does change a bit based on the situation, I find that a lack of confidence is usually the obstacle I face. In the past, when I found myself in leadership, I often became plagued with imposter syndrome. I felt that others were more equipped to hold my position and that I had merely talked my way to the top. It was a big struggle for me, but it also pushed me to work harder. I felt that I needed to do more to stop the feelings that I was having. Because of this, my underconfidence at times could be both a blessing and a curse.
Option B
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, I have to fight both over confidence and lack of confidence. Depending on what the task at hand is, I could either be over confident or not confident at all. I know there are people who are overconfident at just about everything, and there are people who lack confidence at everything. There are also people like me who are sometimes battle both. The one that I think I deal with the most is over confidence. That is something that I have been working on for a while, so it’s less than it was a few years ago.
(38) Option A In High School when I took my first advanced placement course, I was fairly arrogant about my academics. The course took place at my schools local vocational technology school that was a culmination of the surrounding schools. Me and my best friend decided to get ahead on college credits and challenge ourselves. The course was a calculus based physics that focused on real life scenarios. We had to reteach ourselves how to study material because we had excelled in our high school curriculum with little effort. This situation humbled me and shined a new light on how important being willing to learn is to a student's character. Let me tell you if you do not understand calculus based physics do not be ashamed it takes a lot of work to try and understand it. Britt Bradstreet
ReplyDeleteGiven the option between possessing overconfidence versus under-confidence, I would have to pick the latter. I say this because during my later high school years and since moving to ECU, I have always doubted my own abilities regardless of the amount of knowledge/skill I possess in certain areas (such as music). Oftentimes I feel that I do not belong in a place because I have not performed as many concerts or play as many instruments as others, but after reading the story about Halla and her run for presidency, I felt this new-found sense of relief. After reading that section, I realized that everyone truly is their own worst critic and that everyone is looking not at what you are doing, but judging themselves for how they believe they are doing.
ReplyDelete-Abigail Johnson
Option C:
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite points made in the book because the analogies made a lot of sense to me. The armchair quarterback was much more popular when we were younger, however as we grew and matured, we became more attracted to those with imposter syndrome because we learned to value humbleness. When we’re young we don’t know a whole lot, so we are automatically drawn to those who seem like they do. But as we grow up, gain knowledge and have more social experiences, we learn to read people better and can discern between their competence and their confidence. As for celebrity culture, I do not think the same standards apply. The public is often drawn to celebrity’s, which is what makes them celebrities in the first place. They are featured in commercials and advertisements because their confidence in the product makes the public want to go out and buy that product. However, I will say that we still judge celebrities and are more inclined to listen to some rather than others. For example, if I saw one commercial with Johnny Manziel as the advertiser, and another with Jennifer Garner as the advertiser, I would be more inclined to go out and buy what Jennifer Garner is advertising because she is humbler than Johnny Manziel. This just goes to show that over confidence in celebrities is still unattractive, despite their social status.
I chose option B for this question and for me, I see a lack of confidence as more of a struggle for me personally. This is mostly because when I am confident I feel as if I have earned the right to be confident in that area. Otherwise it turns into cockiness which can be very detrimental to a person's image. I've had experience with people who are overconfident and a lot of the time I have not had a good relationship with those types of people simply because of the aura that they put out into the world. It is kind of like they think that they are above everyone else in that area. I, personally, would not like to be seen in that light by others. As for the lack of confidence aspect, there are quite a few areas, particularly in the way that I look, where this applies to me. A lot of the times I find myself comparing myself to others and putting myself down for not looking like the "standard" of modern day beauty or attractiveness in men. I see people who are way more successful than I am, and then I look at their social media bios and they end up being like 16 or 17. I see that and think to myself, "How is this person who is so much younger than me, doing so much better than I am?" That comparison hurts my self-image and confidence in myself and this is where my struggle lies.
ReplyDeleteI chose option C. In my life, I am often drawn to people who are not overly confident because they remind me of myself. I think people generally appreciate people who are knowledgeable, but not cocky per se. There’s a big difference between being sure about your intelligence and keeping that more inward, then being conceited. In my experience, speaking with someone who is overly confident in a negative way is demeaning. They tend to look down on you or expect the same outcomes that they expect for themselves. I used to be this way in elementary school. I thought I was smarter than my friends, so I would use big words or talk about topics they weren’t familiar with. It was less about feeling confident and more about proving myself as “better. I assume that this is the same feeling others who are currently like this feel. It’s a security blanket in a way to shield themselves from judgement or to hide their own insecurities. Humble and modest people tend to get a better reaction out of people than the latter. In celebrity culture, this assumption is quite different. I think it’s a need to be overconfident as a celebrity since the majority of their work is in front of millions of people. It makes others uncomfortable when people are awkward or aloof (Kristen Steward for example). However, when celebrities contain a mixer of confidence and humility, in my opinion, I feel more inclined to like them. Such as Jennifer Lawrence and Lizzo. Perfection is unattainable, so a little humility goes a long way, celebrity or not.
ReplyDeleteI chose option B. When learning a new skill in any area I tend to be very careful about it. We could substitute careful for lacking confidence, but some of the context would be lost. Allow me to elaborate with a short anecdote. I recently did a research internship over the summer. I learned a significant number of things in a very short time about myself and about the research process. In my work I was responsible for everything from collecting samples to processing them and running the relevant experiments and tests. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, nor did I have much to go on from my predecessors. My shear cluelessness resulted in a lack of confidence. I had a limited sample quantity and was stepping into the unknown. This made me think about every step of the process. Every protocol was gone over and talked about several times. Every ingredient was scrupulously examined and made with the utmost care. Every process was carried out with intent and mindfulness. This second guessing and unsureness was very difficult for me, as I am generally a person that makes decisions rather quickly and deals with whatever unintended consequences came my way. I lacked the confidence to make decisions. This had some very interesting side effects. As I mentioned above, I became more mindful of my actions. I slowed down and considered the consequences of mistakes and missteps. I asked questions about everything. I got comfortable with the discomfort caused by the absence of sureness and confidence and allowed that discomfort to shape my decision-making process. A lack of confidence is not such a bad thing.
ReplyDelete-Jordan Odell
I am choosing option A. There have been many times in my life where I have been inexperienced for something, but it is rare when I am overconfident. Growing up, I always loved watching and playing baseball. I breathed it. Leading up to high school, I thought of myself as a good baseball player. Shortly after I arrived in high school, I was humbled. I quickly learned that I had guys ahead of me that were three to four years older than me. As I continued to practice with the team, I gradually became less confident in my abilities based off the other players’ performances. Ever since then, I’ve somewhat struggled with finding confidence in myself because I think it is a good thing when it comes to competition.
ReplyDeleteI will be discussing option A. It has been a while now, but back when I was learning to play the piano, I noticed myself getting fairly good. I had gone from playing songs with just a few notes and two or three lines to playing songs like Fur Elise (by Beethoven) and Sonatina in C major (by Clementi). As I progressed in learning, I remember starting to get a little boastful of my accomplishments, primarily internally, and even starting to look down on other students who did not know as much as I; I really looked at myself as something special. Eventually, as I progressed even further, I realized how much I had to learn and started feeling bad for looking down on people in the past. The scale did start to tip the other way; however, and I began to have some imposter syndrome and became uncomfortable with sharing this skill I had picked up with others. Now, I am much more comfortable with my abilities; but even to this day, about eight years later, I have so much to learn.
ReplyDeleteOption B:
ReplyDeleteI definitely find a lack of confidence being much more of an issue for myself. I will go into any situation and find myself feeling unprepared, even if I have been getting ready for it for weeks. I am very good at finding the flaws in myself, and with that type of mindset, it is very hard to become overly confident. There are goods and bads in both mindsets, but at least I will never be disappointed if I am always expecting the worst of myself.
-Michael Draper
Option A:
ReplyDeleteUp until my junior year of high school, I knew hardly nothing about the specifics of nutrition or exercise. Upon my junior year of high school, I took it upon myself to better myself physically, not yet mentally. I spent my year of fitness as a learning journey. My second year may have been what put me in my place. I thought I knew much more than I really did. Back then, I didn't know about genetic differences, weight differentation, age, etc., etc. I basically believed that what I learned that worked for me would work for everyone else. It wasn't really a social construct that gave me humility for my beliefs, rather a process of curiosity. I could preach what I believed to others that were barely starting their fitness journey, or ones that had remained unsuccessful, but would receive no backlash because they didn't know any better. Looking further into the matter, I decided that I would discuss with my peers that also were trying to get physically better. I received their information, along with several studies and well-consistent content creators, and used this to compile a perspective that gave myself the humility I had needed. I realized I had been wrong to so many people about so many things. Nowadays, I constantly rethink the information I am being given about the field and reassure the people I help to rethink the information as well. Information is constantly changing and I am continuously learning. I assure them of potential options, and that they are free to try out what they believe sounds the best fit for what they enjoy.
-Toby Pyle
Option B:
ReplyDeleteI think overconfidence is definitely a greater challenge for my personality. I often go into everything believing I will be very good at it on the first try. Sometimes I am correct, often times I am not. But regardless I will often make a fool of myself by believing I'm better than everyone else at everything I try, which obviously isn't true.
When I first started playing high school baseball, I was overconfident. In junior high I played with a little league team and not to brag we were one of the best in our area. So, I came into high school ball with the attitude that we were going to be better than everyone else and boy was I wrong. The game changes so much between these two levels the only way to know how much is to experience it. You can hear people talk about, but it does not do it justice. The game is just so much faster. The pitchers throw harder, the hitters hit harder, and the runners run faster. I know it does not sound like much when put like that, but it really is a totally different game. After my first season of high school baseball my confidence levels had dropped tremendously, and I felt like I had to relearn the whole sport.
ReplyDelete-Riley Knickmeyer
Option B:
ReplyDeleteLast year I had my moment of overconfidence in ignorance. I had signed up to take AP Calculus which I had been told left and right was an extremely difficult class. Not just because the math is difficult, but because the math has changed. If you did not update in your mind how certain parts of math worked then the concepts of calculus would be very hard to completely understand. I heard these warnings however and brushed them aside. I had taken every math class under the sun that was available to me and never come out with anything less than an A to this point. This complete overconfidence proved to be my downfall that year as the more I learned in that class the less and less confident I became in what was going on. In the end that class would be the lowest grades in both semesters I have ever received and was a rather humbling moment.