I think the sense of feeling bad for not knowing basic stuff is valuable. The key to making it useful is that I try not to flinch away from learning the thing because of feeling bad. The only response to feeling bad for not knowing something is to either learn it or consciously decide it’s not worth it right now.
I worry that without this sense I would have more fundamental gaps in my knowledge. It’s an alarm bell much like noticing confusion. It probably helps to have prerequisite skills of having similar feelitgs spur yourself to action instead of just beating yourself up about it.
Some of my early inspirations for getting into physics were like that. Once while preparing for the science bowl in middle school I learned I didn’t even know what the fundamental particles were. Later I learned I didn’t even know how one converts electrical power into mechanical motion. Perhaps this has trained me to be excited instead of sad—following up on “Why the fuck do I not know this?” is often fruitful.
I’m realizing now that I should have been more clear about what I meant by “feeling bad”. I could see like a 1⁄10 or 2⁄10 level of “feeling bad” being worthwhile when you stumble across “basic thing gaps”. But what I had in mind is moreso like a 5⁄10 or more type of “feeling bad”. Something more substantial.
That magnitude doesn’t seem worthwhile. If you react that way every time you don’t know a “basic thing”, you’ll probably end up feeling a ton of bad feelings. An amount that outweighs the benefits of added motivation.
I think the sense of feeling bad for not knowing basic stuff is valuable. The key to making it useful is that I try not to flinch away from learning the thing because of feeling bad. The only response to feeling bad for not knowing something is to either learn it or consciously decide it’s not worth it right now.
I worry that without this sense I would have more fundamental gaps in my knowledge. It’s an alarm bell much like noticing confusion. It probably helps to have prerequisite skills of having similar feelitgs spur yourself to action instead of just beating yourself up about it.
Some of my early inspirations for getting into physics were like that. Once while preparing for the science bowl in middle school I learned I didn’t even know what the fundamental particles were. Later I learned I didn’t even know how one converts electrical power into mechanical motion. Perhaps this has trained me to be excited instead of sad—following up on “Why the fuck do I not know this?” is often fruitful.
I’m realizing now that I should have been more clear about what I meant by “feeling bad”. I could see like a 1⁄10 or 2⁄10 level of “feeling bad” being worthwhile when you stumble across “basic thing gaps”. But what I had in mind is moreso like a 5⁄10 or more type of “feeling bad”. Something more substantial.
That magnitude doesn’t seem worthwhile. If you react that way every time you don’t know a “basic thing”, you’ll probably end up feeling a ton of bad feelings. An amount that outweighs the benefits of added motivation.