This is a chart representing the Dunning-Cruger Effect. In the beginning, we feel "I know, I don't know" many things in life and set our motivation around such things. For example, as a student, we know that we don't know different subjects being taught in schools and aim at learning different subjects. However, there comes the point when we feel "I know, I know". We are full of confidence at this point and stop learning further. This is called Mount Stupid. Most of us stop learning further at this point. However, some continue learning further and pass through the valley of despair. In this phase, we keep learning, however, our confidence reaches its lowest because we learn that there are so many things that we don't know. There is a gap between the requisite skill set and competence. We remain in the domain of "I don't know, I know". For example, after graduation in commerce, I felt as if I knew accounting and commerce until I started CA and there was a valley of despair that there were so many accounting standards that we did not know. Once we pass the valley of despair, we reach the slope of enlightenment where we are in a state of flow, and learning becomes quite sustainable. There is a right balance of skill and confidence in this phase. We keep learning new things every day, in fact, every moment, in this phase. This is the phase of "I don't know, I Don't know".
We need to examine why we get stuck at Mount Stupid. Probably each one of us has two counterforces working within us. We all are pure consciousness that wants to express itself in the form of infinite possibilities. However, as soon as the consciousness takes one of the forms, identification with that form creates an ego, which wants that form to continue. For example, infants do not have strong identities and that is the reason why they explore so naturally any new language, game, skill, etc. On the other hand, as we grow older, we become rigid and fixed and accordingly, stop to grow. Picking up any new language at this stage becomes a big task. Consciousness gives us the motivation to grow while on the other hand, the ego, formed due to identification with one of the expressions of the consciousness, brings resistance to growth. Both movements keep going on inside all of us.
We get stuck at the Mount Stupid when our confidence outgrows our growth. I feel that there may be maybe two reasons for the same. First, ignorance, and second rejection. Thus, we may grow overconfident about our growth, get stuck on Mount Stupid, and stop growing further either because we are ignorant of the growth opportunities or because we reject them even after being aware. Many kids stop taking an interest in studies because they are not aware of the opportunities to grow. In fact, most human beings remain ignorant of the opportunities for spiritual growth for almost the whole of their lives and they settle as social beings.
Awareness depends upon the society we live in and also our habit of observing. For example, if somebody is born into a family of thieves and dacoits, he may have been told since childhood that human life is all about physical pleasure and we may steal, tell lies, and harm others to get such pleasure. Somebody may be born into a family where dowry and corruption are justified. In fact, there are many societies that promote corruption and in fact, one of the qualifications of the prospective groom is the potential to earn money from corruption. In such societies, unless a person possesses high observation powers and can see through societal norms, he will always remain ignorant of the potential to grow as a human being. In fact, it appears that our default awareness of growth potential as a human being is influenced significantly by the average awareness of society. The following chart explains this:
However, the second factor called rejection plays a greater role in deciding the growth of human beings. We reject the potential to grow as human beings, probably because of many pull-down factors. There is a significant pull-up factor for all the people living in a particular community to reach that average growth level. However, there is an equal force pulling down the growth of a human being when an individual tries to rise above that average level of awareness. That is what happened to Socrates, Jesus Christ, and all the enlightened people who were killed by society when they challenged the firmly held beliefs of society. Thus, there is a strong possibility that when a human being rises slightly above the average level of awareness of the society he lives in, there is a strong pull-down force, and unable to resist such force, as a defense mechanism, he pretends to be overconfident and gets stuck Mount Stupid where his further growth as a human being stops. Such pretension of overconfidence is not exposed because the entire society is busy with such pretensions and there is hardly any role model available in the society who can show the real face to the society in a mirror. The following chart tries to explain these factors:
Our fixation on different material manifestations of the consciousness pulls us down further. For example, We get fixated on physical pleasures such as food, comforts, and taste and want to be in our comfort zone. That is one of the reasons that children who get used to air conditioning and comforts find it quite difficult to prepare in tough competitive conditions. Similarly, we get fixated on our perception of safety and do not want to take risks with whatever we have got. We get equally fixated on the network of relationships, positions, and powers. In the process, we develop a very strong fixation on our own social image. All these factors keep pulling us down and we reject the opportunities to grow as a human being. Since we are unable to resist such pull-down forces, we get pulled down and stop to grow as a human being and in order to justify our decisions, we pretend to be overconfident and get stuck on the Mount Stupid. The following chart explains this:
Thus, we end up getting stuck at different Mount Stupid and prohibit our growth as a human being. The following chart tries to explain the same:
Thus, as a result of the twin forces of ignorance and rejection, we all get stuck on the Mount Stupid. Some of us are stuck at a very low level where emotions are on an overdrive and reason takes a back seat. Either we do not have the awareness of our potential to grow as a human being or we reject such a possibility and we decide to remain fixated on the body pleasures. We are stuck on Mount Stupid, in the growth chart as a human being, at a very low point and we remain impulsive the whole of our lives. As we grow, we become aggressive and by the end of our lives, we become quite wild. We see many dacoits, thieves, dons, and criminals around falling in to this zone of development.
Some human beings still remain in the zone of physical pleasure, like the first category of human beings. However, they learn to manage their emotions better. They learn to use their rational mind to fulfil their desires and achieve their targets. They become opportunist and learn to use the fellow human beings for their advantage. As they grow older, they become more and more exploitative and by the time they are in their 40s and 50s, they grow as wicked personalities who can harm anybody for their individual benefits. We see many people around like this. Every organization is full of people like this who can sacrifice their own team members and colleagues for their benefits.
In next zone of development, people realize the significance of the society and somehow sacrifice their physical pleasures to comply with the social norms. However, they are still fixated on the physical pleasures and somehow want to comply with the social norms so that they may be allowed to satiate their senses. They conform to social norms without challenging them ever. They develop a weak character and as they grow older, they become submissive. They will just follow the commands of their superiors whatever be the case. They will expect similar compliance from their subordinates and therefore working with such fellows is quite suffocating for a free soul. As they grow older, they become more and more spineless and that lack of spine is reflected in each aspect of their lives be it office or family or society.
In the next zone of development, people understand the value of social self, and also learn to use their rational mind to live in the society. They become diplomatic trying to accommodate everybody's interest. However, in the process of accommodation, what matters is only majority and not the truth or reality. As they grow older, they gain intelligence to influence a larger group and become workability champions who try to bring consensus so that certain goals may be achieved. They become quite tactful as they keep working on workable solutions. However, workability has a huge cost and these people do not dare to speak truth because truth generally does not suit the taste buds of the majority.
The next zone of development is the zone of intellectual exploration. People in this zone are more into the exploration through their intellect. For them intellect and logic is primary. They may fight the society, if something does not appeal their logic. However, they fail to realize that the logic has its own limitations. They decide to remain partially blind. Thus, in the initial phases of their lives, they try to gather as much as information and knowledge as possible. Slowly, they develop expertise in one or the other subjects and become specialists. As they grow older, they become authority in subject and people in the society keeping seeking their guidance.
The next zone of development is the zone of wisdom. Some people stay aware of the way society functions and as a result of the observation, they gain wisdom over a period of time and become prudent. They do not follow the norms of the society blindly and keep challenging many of the conventions and traditions. As they grow old, they become conscience keepers of the society. However, they still remain tied to the society and do not enter into the zone of spiritual self. They understanding of the world and growth of human beings stay limited to the physical and social self.
The next zone of development is the zone of spiritual development. People in this zone realize that physical self and social self are just limited manifestations of the consciousness. They are born explorers who want to explore all manifestations of the consciousness without any barriers. They are not bound by the cravings of the physical or social self. They realize the temporariness of all the forms and manifestations and therefore develop equanimity that is essential in the process of exploration. As they grow older, they start creating many new things. They write books on novel concepts, paint, make sculptures, innovate new technologies, understand the hidden secrets of nature and slowly become united with the consciousness.
I feel that human life is the greatest boon of the divine to us. It has a huge potential to grow as a human being. However, we get stuck on Mount Stupid due to overconfidence or pretension of overconfidence about our growth. Such overconfidence is by and large a result of the ignorance of the growth potential, largely due to the average awareness of the society we are born in, or rejection of the potential to grow due to the pull-down factors mainly due to our strong attachments to the physical pleasures, money, power, and self-image. We may get stuck on Mount Stupid at a very early stage of growth as a human being and become impulsive, aggressive, wild, opportunist, exploitative, and wicked. Or we may grow further to become conformist, submissive, and spineless. We may grow further to become diplomatic, workability champions, and tactful and further to become Knowledgeable, Specialists, and Authorities. We may grow further to become Aware, Prudent, and Conscience Keepers of the society. However, the real growth begins when we enter the zone of spiritual growth and start exploring, creating, and finally uniting with the consciousness to flow in the "I don't know, I don't know the domain of nature and start exploring the deep secrets of nature. I feel that we have a choice as to whether we want to get stuck at Mount Stupid or want to grow as a human being.
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