Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
(OP)
This one might be a bit filosophical, but either way, as I get more knowledgable about a particular topic why do I feel like I'm getting worse...not better? It's more like a curve, as I go from a complete beginner to intermediate I feel like I am getting better. Ok. However, as I start to become specialised in a topic I feel like I'm actually less capable than I was when I was still at an intermediate level.
Have any of you guys felt the same? Is it of being more critical of your own efforts? Does the knowledge of knowing what can all go wrong actually inhibit you from pushing through problems? I've heard people say this before, but I can't quite put why.
Have any of you guys felt the same? Is it of being more critical of your own efforts? Does the knowledge of knowing what can all go wrong actually inhibit you from pushing through problems? I've heard people say this before, but I can't quite put why.
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RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
– Socrates
It was true in 400BC, still true today.
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
old field guy
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Put another way, a wise man told me once, "The older I get, the more I realize I DON'T know!"
Contrast that with what a very savvy Vice President of Engineering told me once, "I am the luckiest man in the world. I am surrounded by Young Engineers who KNOW EVERYTHING!"
TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering
www.bluetechnik.com
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
No wonder so many feel this way!
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
I don't know anything!
I don't know anything!
Then again...
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
- Steve
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Doesn't work that way for breweries, at least not for me ;)
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
Engineering is about simplifying reality into nice neat little formula that can be digested by our brain. The more you learn the more shortcomings you know about those simplifications.
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
so any time you might be worried about your won lack of skills, just think of the guy who made the mistakes you're trying to fix.
old field guy
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
People with real experience in a science career know better. You get a problem, spend a lot of trial and error taking it apart to attempt to understand the root causes, still aren't quite sure what's going on but are able to take an educated guess, try a few solutions, find out those don't work as well as you'd hoped, eventually try something else that mostly works even if you're not quite sure why, document everything you did, and pray it works the same way next time.
Sometimes I wonder if my high school science education did more to confuse me than prepare me for an engineering career. Ideal gas laws and Newtonian motion have so little bearing on the realities of an unpredictable, chaotic world.
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
I often think of how savvy and quick thinking I once was as a 19 - 22 year old on a construction site. Nothing could stop me.....then I became an engineer on larger projects and started to realize just how rules / litigation / meetings / inspections / safety ...(8000+ other potential issues) can slow up the whole works. Ah the woes of conscientious and responsible individuals!
Now onto the paralysis of analysis..
I now work as a design engineer dealing with large structural fabrications; speed and brevity is required to keep up with the work load. Downstream problems are not tracked and accounted for; therefore, those engineers I work with that are loose, quick, messy, fail to design to applicable codes, and down right incompetent are able to succeed and garner accomplishment.
It amazes me; however, management does not understand the engineering that is required, code requirements, and regulations. So the whole show just moves along...
I cringe at the process and what passes for analysis/engineering...ignorance is bliss and I get a two headed stare when I prepare calculations!
(Not to hijack the post - any options for such a situation or should I just move on?)
RE: Why do I feel like I get worse, as I get more knowledgable?
I miss being a teenager, back then I was sure I knew everything.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?