How Intelligence Leads To Avoidance | Episode 003 Video Game Addiction
Summary
TLDRThe speaker addresses the challenge gamers face in transitioning from the virtual world to real-life activities. They suggest that this issue stems from an early identity formed around being 'smart,' leading to avoidance of challenging tasks that could undermine this self-perception. The solution proposed involves reframing one's mindset from intelligence to experience, accepting inexperience, and embracing failure as part of the learning process. This shift is essential for overcoming the fear of judgment and moving forward in life.
Takeaways
- đź Gamers often face challenges in transitioning skills and behaviors from the virtual world to real-life situations.
- đ€ The speaker suggests that the root of the problem may lie in the way gamers are treated and perceive themselves from a young age.
- đ§ Data indicates that the average gamer is smarter than the general population, which can lead to a 'smart kid' identity that influences behavior.
- đ« This identity can cause gamers to avoid activities that might make them appear less smart or competent, reinforcing a cycle of avoidance.
- đ The avoidance of challenging tasks can be detrimental in the long run, as it prevents the development of new skills and experiences.
- đ§ The speaker emphasizes that being smart is not enough; experience and competence are what truly matter in life success.
- đ Reframing one's mindset from 'smart or stupid' to 'experienced or inexperienced' can help overcome the fear of failure and judgment.
- đĄ Recognizing that success is tied to experience rather than innate intelligence can motivate individuals to seek out new challenges.
- đ The speaker encourages gamers to embrace their inexperience and view failure as a natural part of the learning process.
- đ€ Changing the mindset to focus on gaining experience can help gamers move forward and take action in real life.
- đ The ultimate goal is to shift from a fear of appearing incompetent to an acceptance of the need for growth and practice.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the script related to gamers?
-The main issue discussed is the difficulty gamers face in transitioning from the virtual world of gaming to real-world activities and responsibilities.
Why do gamers have trouble doing things outside of video games?
-Gamers often have trouble because they have developed an identity as being 'smart' and avoid activities that might make them appear less intelligent or competent.
What is the average gamer's intelligence level according to the script?
-The script suggests that the average gamer is smarter than the rest of the population, with higher IQs.
How does being labeled as 'smart' affect a child's behavior?
-Being labeled as 'smart' can lead children to develop an identity around this label, causing them to avoid activities that might challenge this perception and make them feel incompetent.
Why do smart kids tend to avoid challenging tasks?
-Smart kids often avoid challenging tasks because they fear failure and the perception of being less smart, which could contradict their self-image.
What is the consequence of avoiding challenging tasks in the long term?
-In the long term, avoiding challenging tasks can lead to a lack of growth and development in various skills and areas of life, as well as a sense of paralysis in pursuing new endeavors.
How does the speaker suggest reframing the issue of feeling judged or incompetent?
-The speaker suggests reframing the issue from being about intelligence (smart or stupid) to being about experience (experienced or inexperienced), which can help in accepting the need for learning and practice.
What is the speaker's advice for overcoming the fear of failure?
-The speaker advises gamers to view themselves as inexperienced rather than stupid, understanding that failure is a natural part of gaining experience and competence.
How does the speaker describe the relationship between intelligence and success?
-The speaker argues that success is more closely related to experience and competence rather than raw intelligence, emphasizing the importance of practice and learning.
What is the role of practice in overcoming the paralysis felt by gamers?
-Practice is crucial in overcoming paralysis as it helps build competence and confidence, making it easier to face new challenges and opportunities without fear of judgment or failure.
How can gamers begin to change their mindset to move forward in life?
-Gamers can change their mindset by focusing on gaining experience and competence in areas they want to improve, rather than fixating on their perceived intelligence or fear of failure.
Outlines
đź Overcoming Gaming-Induced Inaction
The speaker addresses a common issue among gamers: the difficulty of transitioning from the virtual world to real-life activities. They suggest that this challenge stems from a deeply ingrained identity as a 'smart kid,' which can lead to avoidance of activities that might make one appear less intelligent. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the root of this issue to effectively address it. They highlight that gamers, often being above average in intelligence, develop an identity around their smarts, which can lead to a reluctance to engage in challenging activities that might risk this self-perception. The speaker proposes reframing the mindset from one of intelligence to one of experience and competence, encouraging gamers to embrace the process of learning and the inevitable failures that come with it.
đ§ Redefining Success Beyond Intelligence
Building upon the previous paragraph, the speaker delves into the societal valuation of intelligence versus experience. They point out that while many people may be intelligent, it is the accumulation of experience and the willingness to embrace incompetence that truly leads to success. The speaker, identifying as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, uses their own perceived intelligence as a point of comparison, suggesting that it is not the sole determinant of accomplishment. They advocate for a shift in self-perception from being smart or stupid to being experienced or inexperienced. This reframing is intended to alleviate the fear of failure and to encourage individuals to take action, practice, and learn from their experiences, ultimately leading to personal growth and the ability to overcome the paralysis that comes from the fear of judgment and perceived incompetence.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄGamers
đĄReal World
đĄIdentity
đĄIntelligence
đĄExperience
đĄIncompetence
đĄAvoidance
đĄParalysis
đĄMindset
đĄFailure
đĄSuccess
Highlights
Gamers often face difficulty transitioning from the virtual world to real-life activities.
The issue stems from a lack of understanding of the root cause of this problem.
Gamers may have desires and dreams but struggle to act on them.
The speaker suggests that the paralysis in real-life action may originate from childhood experiences.
Data indicates that the average gamer is smarter than the general population.
Being labeled as 'smart' can lead to an identity that avoids activities that may make one appear less intelligent.
The avoidance of challenging tasks can become ingrained as one grows older.
Gamers may feel paralyzed by the fear of being observed and appearing incompetent.
The speaker proposes reframing intelligence to experience as a means to overcome this paralysis.
Society often values experience over raw intelligence.
Gamers may feel that despite their intelligence, they are not accomplishing much in life.
The speaker encourages gamers to reframe their mindset from smart or stupid to experienced or inexperienced.
Accepting inexperience can lead to a willingness to try new things and accept failure as part of the learning process.
The solution to inexperience is to engage in activities and learn from the process.
The fear of failure can be mitigated by embracing the concept of inexperience.
The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of mindset change for personal growth and overcoming obstacles.
Transcripts
one of the biggest problems
that gamers have is moving into the real
world and doing things outside of the
game I mean if you guys could do
whatever you wanted to outside of the
video game you wouldn't be here you
wouldn't be listening to me and that's a
perfectly reasonable problem to have as
crazy as that sounds and what I'd like
to do is start by digging into where
does that come from why is it that you
guys may have things that you want to do
but have trouble actually doing you have
hopes you have desires you have dreams
you even know what you shouldn't be
doing but you have trouble doing it and
so in my view the way to actually get
control of that the way to control your
behavior and start doing the things that
you want to be doing that you know you
should be doing is to understand where
that problem comes from in order to
understand how to fix something we have
to understand what's actually wrong and
I think a lot of the paralysis that
gamers have in doing things outside of a
video game actually comes from the way
that they're treated when they're very
young
a lot of gamers are smart data actually
shows that the average gamer is actually
smarter than the rest of the average
population that you guys have higher IQs
than the rest of the average person and
so what I found working with gamers is
that a lot of gamers when they grow up
they're told that they're smart and so
kids when they're told they're smart
something very interesting happens they
start to develop this identity that I'm
a smart kid and when they start to
develop an identity that they're a smart
kid they start to do things that
reinforce that identity and stay away
from things that contrast with that
identity so for example if I'm a smart
kid I want to do things that other
people are gonna perceive is smart but
if there's something I'm not very good
at if there's something that I try and
is gonna make me look stupid a kid is
actually not going to do that and so
over time what starts to happen is the
smart kid only does things that make him
appear to be smart which means that
things that are generally speaking
easier and stays away from things that
are
hard for them and so this works out fine
until they're like in third grade fourth
grade fifth grade because is a smart kid
you don't have to spend a whole lot of
time studying you can just do the things
that you want to and everyone like your
your parents or your teachers or your
family or family friends are all gonna
say oh look at that kid he's so bright
but over time what happens is those
kinds of kids start to avoid challenging
things because whenever they do
something that's challenging they feel
stupid and that's not who you are right
because you're a smart guy and I know
all of you guys think you're smart you
think you're super geniuses and the
funny thing is that's true but as I'm
sure you guys know being smart isn't
enough so let's kind of go back a little
bit to this idea of a smart kid doing
only things that they feel is smart and
so when they do that what happens is
they start to avoid difficult things and
as the kid gets older that avoidance
becomes kind of baked in it becomes a
part of who they are in how they move
around in the world and so this
avoidance actually starts at a very
young age and if you stop and think
about it the hardest things for gamers
to do the hardest thing for you to do is
something where you're being observed by
other people and you feel incompetent
and why is it that that bothers you so
much even if those are people that you
don't care about even if you're never
gonna see them again it's really hard
for you to do anything where other
people see how incompetent you are and
so what happens is gamers they run away
from any sort of experience that that
makes them feel less than smart or where
they feel kind of silly or incompetent
and that actually paralyzes you in life
because most of the things that you do
in life you're gonna suck at at the very
beginning and so if that's the case if
that resonates with you the next natural
question is if this problem starts
because you have a kid who has built up
this ego of them being smart in order to
preserve that ego they actually avoid
doing anything that that they have to
learn how to do they only do the simple
things then you end up where where are
you guys
are now which is that you know you
should do a lot of things but it's
really hard for you to do them because
of the way that you feel judged so how
do you get around that the first way you
get around that is by reframing a little
bit so in the world we tend to value
intelligence and we say like oh so for
example I'm I'm a faculty member at
Harvard Medical School and so when I
when people learn that they're the first
thing that they say is you must be so
smart and it's true like I'm a pretty
smart guy but I'm actually probably not
a whole lot smarter than you guys are
the what the world actually values in
rewards is experience incompetence
because if you think about it
a lot of people are really smart but
they actually don't amount to much and
that's probably the way that you feel
right now you feel that despite being so
smart you're not able to accomplish a
whole lot in life in 95 percent of
gamers when I talk to them about that
they say that it's because I'm lazy and
will dig into lazy but for now I want to
focus a little bit on reframing from
smart or stupid to experience an
inexperience so the more that in your
mind you can realize that actually your
success has nothing to do with your
intelligence it has to do with your
experience or inexperience and the
degree of competence you have the better
off you're gonna be so I encourage all
of you guys to think about what you want
to do and try to tell yourself try to
reframe in your mind that it's not that
I'm smart or I'm stupid but that I'm
experienced or inexperienced and the
more that you can start to approach
situations like that like let's say
applying for a job you can say oh I suck
at interviews but interviews require
practice and the more you practice at
interviewing the better off you're gonna
be and so I encourage all of you guys if
you're feeling paralyzed in life if
you're feeling like you can't move out
into the world and do the things that
you want or should do - first look at
yourself and ask yourself is the
roadblock to me moving forward because I
feel judged because I feel stupid
and if
the answer to that question which I
guess is yes then the first solution
that you have to do is a change in your
mindset don't think of yourself as
stupid think of yourself as
inexperienced in the neat thing about
that is that the more you think of
yourself is inexperienced the more you
naturally realize that the solution to
inexperience is to try things and the
funny thing is that when you try things
and you accept that you're inexperienced
you're actually okay failing and if you
really look at yourselves I would bet
money that the problem that you have is
that you can't tolerate the idea of
failing but if you can reframe to
inexperience
then failure is kind of a normal part of
it right you've got to learn you've got
to stumble a couple of times before you
learn how to walk and if you guys can
make that shift I think that's gonna be
the first step to you being able to move
forward in the world and kind of
overcome that obstacle of feeling like
you're stupid or feeling like you're
judged
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)