Sonspot

Also known as the reason behind my unfounded overconfidence:

"People who do things badly, Dr. Dunning has found in studies conducted with a graduate student, Justin Kruger, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well."

But wait, there is hope:

"Unlike their unskilled counterparts, the most able subjects in the study, Dr. Kruger and Dr. Dunning found, were likely to underestimate their own competence."

In other words, being humble will make you smarter. The worse you think you are at something the more competent at it you'll be. It all makes perfect sense.

So let's stop trying to boost kid's confidence, it's only making them dumber. Show them just how bad they really are at stuff, that is, if you love them and want them to succeed.

Positive reinforcement is the new enemy of this age. Throw out the gold stars, toss the plastic medals, and silence the atta boys. We must battle these with all our hearts, and in order to win we must believe we will fail.