Smart people don’t like taking chances because they are afraid of being wrong.
Identity is a powerful motivator for behaviors. If you are told all your life that you are smart and special, being wrong is evidence that you aren’t who you thought you were. That dissonance makes you feel bad.
From How to do things if you’re not that smart and don’t have any talent by Adaobi.
See also:
- There are techniques to inoculate yourself from fear that other people will think you are wrong
- Despite the difficulties for smart people to take chances, it is essential to doing important work
- The quest for good explanations is error correcting so rather that thinking if of avoiding being wrong, think of it as a process for seeking better explanations
- Fear is bad advice
Links to this note
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Why Product Engineering Always Feels Kind of Wrong
Something I’ve noticed about building products over the years is that it always feels like I’m doing it wrong. At the same time, it’s a clue about what’s really going on and what to do about it.