Study showing that confident people are often not successful
Main post link -> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20756247
I read the earlier discussion about ideal education systems and was struck, that we all agree that motivation is one of the most important parts of learning. I thought this was an interesting article showing what I interpret to be that ego, confidence, and self-esteem are not necessarily a sign of motivation. That is not really what all my teachers have told me since I was in elementary school. I do see it a lot in my highschool though, lots of people who think their the greatest and don't try very hard. Maybe it it's only a US/Canadian trend. I thought it was interesting.
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Annie Wofford
8 years, 5 months ago
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If you watched Waiting for "Superman", it states that US students ranks first in "overconfidence", whereas lag far behind in the (actual) academic subjects. Of course, some measure of confidence is actually necessary.
You have to learn how to identify those who are "all talk but no show", because they feel that they need to publicize themselves in order to make up for their lack of ability. Often, a look at their work will be an extremely quick determination.
It is interesting to note that in The Black Swan, Taleb argues that scientists and researchers often overestimate their probability of success. Furthermore, in this case, overconfidence is actually required (highly correlated).
I think Brilliant and Calvin help show who's all-talk and who's all-show. If you've ever had a discussion with Calvin, he will point out where you might have made mistakes, and even if you get the answer right, he knows how to push your brain further into deeper thinking.
It's interesting that their studies show that if you give positive reinforcement to people who are doing poorly, they see it as justifying not trying.
I study Will Always It a the most Mind always This
Really interesting article!