It’s human nature to avoid risk. We don’t want to embarrass ourselves. We don’t want to diminish our credibility. So we stay near the center. We censor our words and disguise our true thoughts.

Besides, who are we to tell other people they’re wrong? How can we really be sure of ourselves?

We can’t. But we have to risk being wrong if we ever want to really be right. This quote from John Irving explains why. His example deals with writing, but it applies to any creative endeavor.

If you don’t feel that you are possibly on the edge of humiliating yourself, of losing control of the whole thing, then probably what you are doing isn’t very vital. If you don’t feel like you are writing somewhat over your head, why do it? If you don’t have some doubt of your authority to tell this story, then you are not trying to tell enough.

Thanks to Screw You! for the quote.

Stanford psychologist, Carol Dweck, has spent her career studying the mental phenomena that lead to success. The Effort Effect provides an overview of her findings.

Why do some people reach their potential, while others with equal or greater talent fail?

The answer, according to Dweck, is attitude. In fact, Dweck has observed that believing in fixed intelligence can undermine a person’s ability to succeed.

Many people who believe in fixed intelligence also think you shouldn’t need hard work to do well. This belief isn’t entirely irrational, she says. A student who finishes a problem set in 10 minutes is indeed better at math than someone who takes four hours to solve the problems. And a soccer player who scores effortlessly probably is more talented than someone who’s always practicing. “The fallacy comes when people generalize it to the belief that effort on any task, even very hard ones, implies low ability,” Dweck says.

This fallacy leads people to view set backs as personal failures rather than opportunities for growth. Click here to continue »

Rummage through Paul Graham’s collected essays. I wrote about his piece on startups a week ago. Since then I’ve realized his writing covers a broad range that goes far beyond the tech industry.

Graham writes with an informal, meandering style that questions accepted beliefs and leads to surprising conclusions. When reading him, I don’t feel like I’m being preached to or instructed. It’s more like sharing a conversation with an old friend. Ideas are shared without egotism. The conclusion doesn’t matter, only finding the truth.

This style differentiates Graham from other writers. He isn’t trying to sell himself or an idea. He isn’t trying to build authority in a niche. This is a guy who’s already made it and just wants to discuss what’s on his mind. Click here to continue »

Continuing the Discussion

When I wrote this post about achieving happiness through a lie, I wasn’t sure what type of reaction to expect.

The discussion that followed in the comments exceeded all my expectations. It made me realize the real value of this site:

Sharing ideas.

A single person’s perspective, no matter how well expressed, is necessarily incomplete. It comes from a single mind, with a single set of beliefs, and a single human experience. Perspectives are neither right nor wrong. They simply exist.

Understanding isn’t determined by what perspective you have, but by how many different perspectives you are aware of and how you relate them to each other. Click here to continue »