Interesting article by Errol Morris about the blind spot that keeps incompetent people from realizing their own incompetence.

I think Errol Morris pretty much over thinks things, and it really seems like he’s paid by the word or something. “At first I thought, then I was puzzled then I realized…” But either way it’s pretty insightful.

I’ve witnessed this a lot in people. They’ve come up to me and asked what was a verifiable question. Neither of us knew the answer of what was in stock room “A”; but he persisted in asking me and himself what was there. I say “I don’t know, you might want to check and see.” This person’s incompetence seems to make them always feel as if they only have to think out a problem, not research it.

He’s even tried to think out the POE telecom standard by the color of the wires. You’re sitting at your desk, why don’t you make one google search to find out? FYI he remembered wrong, but either way he’s burdening himself remembering whether he was right or wrong. If you’re not sure, then check, if you’re sure then maybe you don’t. 

Aside: I think Morris does enjoy the thought process, and keeping it in the writing. But at the same time, we’re watching him walk into dead-ends, blindly speculate, or just muse about something moderately interesting. I can’t help but think he expects us to clad for every avenue he pursues no matter how little thought he gets out of it. I think a real journalist would present some of the journey and the possibilities, but there’s a little too much meta information about how he pursued the article. 

Of course I think Morris is trying to do just what he mentions in the article. To “to get themselves in front of those professors so they can see what smart looks like.” It’s not doubt he’s smart, but his lesson does make me feel like I’m being paced through his arguments. I think his writing bias is that his readers would have trouble keeping up with him if he didn’t.

Aside #2 (yeah whatever):

I remember once I moved into the upstairs of a duplex with my brother. The owner of the house lived downstairs, worked in a back as a day trader, and apparently owned a 12-plex of bachelors and small units. My brother exclaimed once that the landlord was stupid “in the right way”. The way that allowed him to somehow be able to make those investments, manage them, and not fold under the risk and expense. 

I never believed that to be the case. But I think my brother has major blind spots when it comes to running a business; regardless of the number of businesses he’s tried. I’m just interested that he would have interpreted someones success as some sort of stupidity. I think that someone’s blind spot, or the things they don’t think about, could be a valuable adaptation. 

The first few weeks of any job are always stressful. You are completely stimulated by everything that is going on. You don’t know what to focus on. What’s important? After a few weeks (or months) you have adapted. You know your place, you know what the pay attention to, and you can focus on getting things done.

After a year, you are sick of it.