{"id":12361,"date":"2020-09-14T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T16:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=12361"},"modified":"2020-12-30T06:25:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T14:25:41","slug":"the-competence-trap-and-why-it-keeps-you-from-trying-new-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/14\/the-competence-trap-and-why-it-keeps-you-from-trying-new-things\/","title":{"rendered":"The Competence Trap (and Why it Keeps You From Trying New Things)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader asked me recently whether I thought there was a limit to how much math you could learn, based on your intelligence. As in, if your IQ was too low you\u2019d get stuck at algebra or calculus and be unable to learn any more math.<\/p>\n

This seems highly unlikely. The way deep subjects like math are learned is through a process of increasingly abstract chunking of simpler mathematical ideas. It would be really strange if this process just dead-ended at some arbitrary point.<\/p>\n

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Another observation that easily refutes this point is simply how much more mathematical everybody<\/em> is than in ages past. Counting beyond the number four is undeveloped in some cultures<\/a>. Before mass education, most people were innumerate. As my friend, Kalid Azad<\/a>, likes to point out\u2014rewind time far enough and things like the concept of \u201czero\u201d were PhD-level insights!<\/p>\n

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So if the existence of a mathematical barrier that prevents less-clever people from going forward is unlikely. Yet why does it often feel that way? Maybe you were pretty good at math in elementary school, but gradually it seemed to get harder and more painful.<\/p>\n

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