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Post by Eva Yojimbo on Apr 30, 2020 17:10:30 GMT
I think my lack of pride comes from insecurity about the fact that I've never formally studied anything. I was selling stuff online in my teens and took up online poker at 18, and I've been successful enough that I never bothered going to college. So what I know just comes from learning on my own, like I'm a weirdo that reads textbooks for fun and listens to science/philosophy podcasts; but I'm very aware that for any subject I've learned about there are undoubtedly many out there who know far more than me, and I really don't want to make myself look like an ignorant ass if they happen to be around. Brilliance isn't something that comes from rote and routine. It comes from a keen mind with a chip on its shoulder and the feeling that it needs to do everything to learn. I think you've got that, lad. At least give yourself some credit for it. Don't worry. A touch of hubris won't weigh you down like a boat anchor. Well, thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I also don't see much point to hubris and pride in general. Someone complimenting me for what I know feels as weird as if they complimented me for watching Doctor Who: I just do both things because I enjoy them.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2020 17:11:56 GMT
Brilliance isn't something that comes from rote and routine. It comes from a keen mind with a chip on its shoulder and the feeling that it needs to do everything to learn. I think you've got that, lad. At least give yourself some credit for it. Don't worry. A touch of hubris won't weigh you down like a boat anchor. Well, thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I also don't see much point to hubris and pride in general. Someone complimenting me for what I know feels as weird as if they complimented me for watching Doctor Who: I just do both things because I enjoy them. Mmm, I understand. But if your goal is to know as much as you can, you'll never feel any sense of gratification with that mindset. At some point, you should appreciate the plaudits legitimately lest you become detached.
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Post by llanwydd on Apr 30, 2020 21:03:04 GMT
I think I was up to about 46 before I started looking them up. Even before that I had to check the spelling of some of the names.
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Post by Aj_June on Apr 30, 2020 22:53:08 GMT
Me neither. They make me shrink up and give more credit to others. But nonetheless, one should be proud of their own accomplishments, no? I think my lack of pride comes from insecurity about the fact that I've never formally studied anything. I was selling stuff online in my teens and took up online poker at 18, and I've been successful enough that I never bothered going to college. So what I know just comes from learning on my own. Like, I'm a weirdo that reads textbooks for fun and listens to science/philosophy podcasts; but I'm very aware that for any subject I've learned about there are undoubtedly many out there who know far more than me, and I really don't want to make myself look like an ignorant ass if they happen to be around. But, here, take this compliment: you're one of my favorite posters on the Politics forum. There are only a handful of people over there that I can read without wanting to bash my head against a table, and you're one of them. Formal education should never be any criteria for getting respect. Most of the exams in universities do not even effectively test one's knowledge. Exams are conducted on a set pattern which students at any level including master's can pass by just knowing the pattern via looking at previous years question papers. In fact, in many cases you even have open book exams which give you full freedom to look at a textbook before answering. If you have decent RC skills you can interpret texts and easily pass. Universities are more or less business. I worked for an education consulting firm in the past and saw how corrupt the education system could be. I used to even talk with university representatives frequently and saw the con work by universities on everyday basis. That said, I am not trying to say that higher education is not good. It definitely helps. Not everyone is blessed with a sharp mind like you so Ceteris paribus getting higher education is better unless one has not got to gain anything by doing so. Trust me, you should not feel insecure about the lack of college degree. Yes, most people can learn Bayes theorem and know how to update probability. But I have seen you understand problems inside out and you know to approach a problem the best way. I have sat in one of the most gruelling exams in my field (finance) and I have seen candidates falter at even simplest Bayes problems if you phrase the question in a tricky way. In fact, I remember approaching you a couple of years back on how to deal with Bayes in short time (I think JW-Tutor had suggested me to approach you).
Yes, there may be people much better than you in things in which you are very good. But the thing is that why should we make the 'best in the class' a benchmark for appreciating others? My father says how times have changed. Back in his days those who sang well among his friends were applauded for their singing. But now you need to be on media or at least local television to get appreciated. That's not how I feel. I believe in appreciating people who are good at things. Okay, might be my difficulty in getting through lots of texts makes me dislike philosophy. May be I just don't have what it takes to either understand or appreciate philosophy. I may try reading philosophy I have attention problem and that's why I may not succeed. To learn logic I took a different approach. I started solving past questions of LSAT exam conducted in your country. I think that helped a lot. After solving a couple of 100 questions I became aware of most of the biases humans commit (and I do fairly regularly too in non-formal environments). End result of taking so much was that I scored on top 1 percentile in reading comp/Critical reasoning sections of one of the tests that I sat for. May be I would have to design a plan on how to approach study of philosophy. It would be more difficult for sure.
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Post by Eva Yojimbo on May 1, 2020 13:24:40 GMT
I think my lack of pride comes from insecurity about the fact that I've never formally studied anything. I was selling stuff online in my teens and took up online poker at 18, and I've been successful enough that I never bothered going to college. So what I know just comes from learning on my own. Like, I'm a weirdo that reads textbooks for fun and listens to science/philosophy podcasts; but I'm very aware that for any subject I've learned about there are undoubtedly many out there who know far more than me, and I really don't want to make myself look like an ignorant ass if they happen to be around. But, here, take this compliment: you're one of my favorite posters on the Politics forum. There are only a handful of people over there that I can read without wanting to bash my head against a table, and you're one of them. Formal education should never be any criteria for getting respect. Most of the exams in universities do not even effectively test one's knowledge. Exams are conducted on a set pattern which students at any level including master's can pass by just knowing the pattern via looking at previous years question papers. In fact, in many cases you even have open book exams which give you full freedom to look at a textbook before answering. If you have decent RC skills you can interpret texts and easily pass. Universities are more or less business. I worked for an education consulting firm in the past and saw how corrupt the education system could be. I used to even talk with university representatives frequently and saw the con work by universities on everyday basis. That said, I am not trying to say that higher education is not good. It definitely helps. Not everyone is blessed with a sharp mind like you so Ceteris paribus getting higher education is better unless one has not got to gain anything by doing so. Trust me, you should not feel insecure about the lack of college degree. Yes, most people can learn Bayes theorem and know how to update probability. But I have seen you understand problems inside out and you know to approach a problem the best way. I have sat in one of the most gruelling exams in my field (finance) and I have seen candidates falter at even simplest Bayes problems if you phrase the question in a tricky way. In fact, I remember approaching you a couple of years back on how to deal with Bayes in short time (I think JW-Tutor had suggested me to approach you).
Yes, there may be people much better than you in things in which you are very good. But the thing is that why should we make the 'best in the class' a benchmark for appreciating others? My father says how times have changed. Back in his days those who sang well among his friends were applauded for their singing. But now you need to be on media or at least local television to get appreciated. That's not how I feel. I believe in appreciating people who are good at things. Okay, might be my difficulty in getting through lots of texts makes me dislike philosophy. May be I just don't have what it takes to either understand or appreciate philosophy. I may try reading philosophy I have attention problem and that's why I may not succeed. To learn logic I took a different approach. I started solving past questions of LSAT exam conducted in your country. I think that helped a lot. After solving a couple of 100 questions I became aware of most of the biases humans commit (and I do fairly regularly too in non-formal environments). End result of taking so much was that I scored on top 1 percentile in reading comp/Critical reasoning sections of one of the tests that I sat for. May be I would have to design a plan on how to approach study of philosophy. It would be more difficult for sure. I've heard other people say similar things about higher education, but I guess for me it was more about the lack of having anyone experienced/knowledgeable enough as a guide to bounce things off of. When you're on your own it's difficult to discern the difference between thinking you understanding something and actually understanding it, especially as you get into the more technical subjects, or technical aspects of certain subjects. At least with the arts, which is my primary passion/interest, most things are pretty clear and straight-forward, and even technical terms aren't difficult to learn with a good textbook that provides examples. With something like music it also helps to be able to practice what you're learning to understand it on a practical level too. I'm not so concerned about being the "best in class," but more concerned about coming off as a Dunning-Kruger type to anyone who might, indeed, know more than I do about whatever it is I'm talking about. It's why I tend to stay out of discussions about things I don't know much about, in general, and even with subjects I think I know well I try to be cautious. It's likely you just encountered the wrong philosophy. There is indeed a ton of philosophy that's incredibly dense, technical, and very poorly written. Kant is widely considered a genius and one of the greatest philosophers ever, but he was a godawful writer, and for philosophers like I'm I usually recommend checking out books written by other people who were better at explaining what the hell they meant than they themselves were. There's also a lot of philosophy that is clear and engagingly written, much of which actually functions as literature: Plato, Sartre, Camus, Schopenhauer, Russell, and Nietzsche are a short list of philosophers that are very readable, and one could even consider Dostoevsky as much of a philosopher as a novelist (Tolstoy too). I always recommend Bertrand Russell (especially his History of Western Philosophy) as a good starting point, because his clarity is unmatched and he was superb at explaining most of the major ideas/conflicts in philosophy. It's also a good starting point because you can decide where you want to go from there based on what grabs your interest. Given your interest in religion, you might also like Kierkegaard, who wrote quite profoundly about Christian faith, and even though I disagree with him on most everything I found Fear and Trembling a very engaging read. Not the easiest read, but not as difficult as Kant et al.
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Post by Nora on May 1, 2020 17:04:07 GMT
I don't take compliments well. Me neither. They make me shrink up and give more credit to others.But nonetheless, one should be proud of their own accomplishments, no? I get annoyed when that happens to be honest. My cousin is just like that. she is this amazing artist and I love her art and i give her a compliment and she gets all self-conscious and starts complimenting me back like crazy, so nothing I say about her stays with her really or the attention on her, and sometimes I feel just like smacking her and saying "no, this is about YOU" plus also compliments given as a result of this feeling seem less genuine because its obviously some kind of defense mechanism, no?
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2020 1:36:19 GMT
Me neither. They make me shrink up and give more credit to others.But nonetheless, one should be proud of their own accomplishments, no? I get annoyed when that happens to be honest. My cousin is just like that. she is this amazing artist and I love her art and i give her a compliment and she gets all self-conscious and starts complimenting me back like crazy, so nothing I say about her stays with her really or the attention on her, and sometimes I feel just like smacking her and saying "no, this is about YOU" plus also compliments given as a result of this feeling seem less genuine because its obviously some kind of defense mechanism, no? Hard to say. I can't speak for your cousin. Speaking personally, I don't hate compliments-- in fact, they feel good to get-- but I always downplay and cast them away in the moment. If I were to reach deep into my psyche for a reason, I'd say it's because while I desire people to be complimentary and I wish to be helpful or inspiring to others, I don't think I've ever done enough to really earn it. I always look towards those who have done better from my perspective. People who are gifted in ways I am not. What I do, what I've done, seems rote by comparison to their talent. Perhaps it is a self-esteem issue. But it's also the driving force to getting better and improving. Perhaps that plays a role as well, because without that feeling that you are always running behind, and whatever talents you possess seem like they would be lost.
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Post by Nora on May 11, 2020 16:00:20 GMT
I get annoyed when that happens to be honest. My cousin is just like that. she is this amazing artist and I love her art and i give her a compliment and she gets all self-conscious and starts complimenting me back like crazy, so nothing I say about her stays with her really or the attention on her, and sometimes I feel just like smacking her and saying "no, this is about YOU" plus also compliments given as a result of this feeling seem less genuine because its obviously some kind of defense mechanism, no? Hard to say. I can't speak for your cousin. Speaking personally, I don't hate compliments-- in fact, they feel good to get-- but I always downplay and cast them away in the moment. If I were to reach deep into my psyche for a reason, I'd say it's because while I desire people to be complimentary and I wish to be helpful or inspiring to others, I don't think I've ever done enough to really earn it. I always look towards those who have done better from my perspective. People who are gifted in ways I am not. What I do, what I've done, seems rote by comparison to their talent. Perhaps it is a self-esteem issue. But it's also the driving force to getting better and improving. Perhaps that plays a role as well, because without that feeling that you are always running behind, and whatever talents you possess seem like they would be lost. thats how i see it too, the self esteem issue. but i have seen people not recognize their greatness because of it and deprave the world of their gifts as a result, so i am not sure if those people can even reach the point where they see themselves as worthy and accept compliments without feeling the need to re-channel attention even after objectively improving in something. but on the other hand, who is it hurting if they dont, right? i guess i just like to see people believing in themselves and being proud of their skills and achievements, and able to share it with the world. every person on this planet has something they are good that and they could be proud of. but also, I guess its better to be overly humble then overly cocky, so...
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Post by Feologild Oakes on May 11, 2020 16:13:52 GMT
I could name 17 of them
So 17%
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