While interacting with the children, in different schools, I was often surprised to see the confidence among the kids about the decisions they have taken regarding their careers because when we talk to the people working in those careers, people in their 40s and 50s have an altogether different view of the professions/careers. But the kids are quite sure of the choices they have made. There is no problem with any choice. The problem is with the uninformed choices because they are the biggest reasons for the dissatisfaction and frustration in the 40s and 50s. It is because initial 10-15 years, people are busy with explorations that different careers offer and there is a lot of hope for improvement. The reality sets in when we cross the midpoint of the career or are about to cross that.
I went through a lot of books and literature to understand that stupidity and was surprised to see that it has actually been given the name of "Mount Stupidity" in the Dunning-Kruger effect that explains the learning curve. I studied the concept of flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a leading psychologist, who says that if the level of challenge matches the level of competence, we experience a state of flow wherein time dilates and we fully enjoy the process. I tried to superimpose the curves of the Dunning-Kruger effect over the chart depicting flow and to understand the process of growth of ego in the following chart:
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says that if we have a very low skill level, and take a very easy challenge, which matches our skill levels, we will have "fun". If we enhance our skill level and take on matching challenges, we will have "joy". If we further enhance our skill level and take a matching challenge, we will experience a state of "flow", wherein we get so engaged in the process that we lose sense of time. If we enhance the skill level further and take a matching challenge, we will feel "energized", as if we are getting energy from the process. If we enhance the skills further and get a matching challenge, we "grow" with the process. At any stage, if the challenge is tougher than the skill level, we will feel anxious, and if the challenge is easier than our skill level, we will feel bored.
I was in fact surprised that why so many people settle for lower skill levels and develop so many anxieties. I was especially thinking as to why the kids do not understand this during their childhood. Then I got quite a probable answer to my question in the form of the Dunning-Kruger effect. To begin with, all of us, are in the domain of I know, I don't know. All the children know that they do not know so many things. This is the "zone of ignorance" and while in this zone, we set ambitions regarding acquiring knowledge and studying hard. With this, we reach the "Mount Stupid" where we feel that we know that we know. Confidence is at its peak on the mount stupid. This is a very dangerous spot. Since we know that we know, most of us become adamant at Mount stupid and that is how our learning stops. From the zone of ignorance to mount stupid is the phase of ego-boosting wherein we keep boosting our ego and that is the reason we behave quite arrogantly and close our minds after reaching the mount stupid.
If our learning stops here, it has quite severe consequences for almost whole of our lives. Since our skill level remains low, first of all, there is a great probability that we face challenges that are greater than our learning and face anxiety and stress at the workplace. Even if we somehow take up assignments that have low-level challenges to match our skill level, it would be very difficult for us to experience flow, energy, and growth. We will settle at a level far less than the potential we have and that will result unfulfilled life and we are most likely to develop regrets and inferiority complexes.
Some of the kids continue to build skills even after reaching Mount Stupid. Probably because they have parents, teachers, or colleagues to guide them who have traveled beyond Mount Stupid. In some cases, it may so happen because the child has retained that inner connection with the divine that keeps his interest in the exploration alive. He has a deep urge to know the reality. In such cases as he moves away from the mount stupid and gets to know so many things, the process of "Ego-Melting" sets in. Confidence goes down and the child starts believing as if he does not know anything. However, in the process learning is taking place, and the skill level is increasing. With this, the child enters the "Valley of Despair" with low confidence and this is the domain of "I don't know, I know". This is the phase of the preparation for civil services when we don't have the confidence to clear the exam and yet clear the same because we have unconsciously built a sound skill set.
If we continue our learning process, we soon enter the domain of "I don't know, I don't know". This is one of the most fulfilling parts of the learning curve where we have some sort of enlightenment about the subject and learning is sustainable. We enjoy the process in this stage and are least bothered about the outcomes. In this phase, we have a flow in the learning and skill-building process. In this process, our level of skills as well as confidence increases quite significantly. Learning is effortless and the new learning fits into the framework quite easily. Our framework of the subject becomes quite robust. That is the reason that when we have experienced the phase of learning "I don't know, I don't know" during our childhood, we develop a robust framework of our subject and that helps us get a job or set up entrepreneurship that commensurates our skill set and we keep getting challenges that match our skill set to make us experience the state of "flow", "Energised" and "growth". This is the process of "Ego-growth" whereby we keep expanding our boundaries to the domain of "I don't know, I don't know", embrace the process, and flow with the same, like being one with the universe.
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