The behavior seemed rational to me. Concluding from seeing a bunch of people doing X easily that you are not as good at X is logical; the only takeaway I would take is that occasionally the environment is rigged and the conclusion is unwarranted; famous example from Gladwell is kids born later in the year ending up in the same group (team or class) with slightly older than themselves. That kind of situation can lead to distorted self-perception.
The behavior seemed rational to me. Concluding from seeing a bunch of people doing X easily that you are not as good at X is logical
Agreed, but seeing a bunch of people do X easily and then having your mind freeze up whenever you need to do X is not instrumentally rational. In Learned Blankness, Anna Salamon pointed out that it’s ok to know that you are bad at X, but it is irrational to let your mind instinctively go blank when you see X.
I agree about freezing up—doing your best under the circumstances should not change from seeing your relative disadvantage. Picking a career is another story—have to know how well you’re expected to do in a field before jumping in.
I can’t find it now, but I fuzzily remember something I think Michael Vassar or Will Newsome said about doubting the existence of learned helplessness, except in humans or pack-hunting animals which have lived with humans for a long time.
Seems like a pointer toward the instrumental rationality of failing like that.
The behavior seemed rational to me. Concluding from seeing a bunch of people doing X easily that you are not as good at X is logical; the only takeaway I would take is that occasionally the environment is rigged and the conclusion is unwarranted; famous example from Gladwell is kids born later in the year ending up in the same group (team or class) with slightly older than themselves. That kind of situation can lead to distorted self-perception.
Agreed, but seeing a bunch of people do X easily and then having your mind freeze up whenever you need to do X is not instrumentally rational. In Learned Blankness, Anna Salamon pointed out that it’s ok to know that you are bad at X, but it is irrational to let your mind instinctively go blank when you see X.
I agree about freezing up—doing your best under the circumstances should not change from seeing your relative disadvantage. Picking a career is another story—have to know how well you’re expected to do in a field before jumping in.
I can’t find it now, but I fuzzily remember something I think Michael Vassar or Will Newsome said about doubting the existence of learned helplessness, except in humans or pack-hunting animals which have lived with humans for a long time.
Seems like a pointer toward the instrumental rationality of failing like that.
Edit: it was Will Newsome.
Even if people do not do a task easily they will often still pretend they do.