The 4 stages of learning
I am reading The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros and one of the chapters deal with the 4 stages of learning – in this case, learning how to invest. The 4 stages are:
- Unconscious incompetence
- Conscious incompetence
- Consicious competence
- Unconscious competence
In other words, each of the above stage means that:
- You don’t know that you don’t know
- You know that you don’t know
- You know what you know and know what you don’t know
- You unconsciously know that you know
I’m surprised I found these gems in an investment book. In the context of Tai Ji, they fit quite well as well! I think i am in the 2nd stage, where I now realise I don’t actually know that much. What I find interesting is that stage 1 can easily be mistaken as stage 3, where you think you know what you already know, and know what you don’t know. I think a lot of people fall into this trap when doing tai ji, especially those who have been “at it” for a long time.
It’s difficult to admit that all your training has not even scratched the surface of what is tai ji. But without realising that you are in stage 1, you can’t actually move to stage 2, not to mention stage 3! Stage 1 is where confidence is highest, but skills is lowest – ignorance is bliss, until you find out that you don’t actually know anything!
So, are you brave enough to admit that you’re in stage 1?
Dreaming one day that i’ll be in stage 4…
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Category: Guides to life | Tags: books, investment, learning, Tai Chi, thoughts 6 comments »
June 12th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
It’s taken me over 6 yrs in taiji to realize that I really don’t know and there’s so much to learn. Based on the little scale, I’d say I’m at like 2.25 in my own training
June 12th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
Haha!! I think I hover between 2.01 and 2.09… always finding out more things that I don’t know..
June 13th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
ha, ha……….guys i’m at 3 according to the levels defined in our taiji textbook. our levels are defined as :-
a) from nothing, know something (beginner)
b) from something, now start to acquire a lot (intermediate)
c) from a lot start to become simple and go back to nothing (advanced)
i’m on a journey transitioning between (b) to (c)
October 1st, 2009 at 12:09 am
[...] best, or as good as they can be. But when they don’t realise that they’re not there yet (see unconscious incompetence), it’s tough for me (or anyone) to point out to them. It’s tougher for me to give their advice [...]
January 17th, 2010 at 10:05 am
It took me a long time to decide to move to #3. And a bold decision it was (does that sound like I’m a #1?). Well, I wandered around back in 03-05 looking for a teacher. Either a.) they wanted me to learn new forms before entry into interactive work or b.) they had questionable methods. Nevertheless, I worked with both groups until I decided that I’d forge a new path. When I began teaching I could distinguish between what I knew and what I didn’t. I gave students what I knew, and I took my seniors students and showed them what I didn’t know and we put together methods to get those things. That was a great era of growth.
The big shift felt like arrogance. It required a shift that said “this is not enough, I can do more.” It required that I let go of faux-humility, and go for the big time. (Or what felt like big-time to me.)
Still, these are words, and it’s difficult to assess motion or competence in words.
My last bit is that #4 just happens. I’ve had glimpses of it when I meet my fears… living there, in #4, will take great artistry.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Sometimes, we just have to have that mentality “go big, or go home”. it’s how we demand more of ourselves, and move on to the next level. We might not be at the ultimate level, but definitely closer everyday.
Envious that you have a team that is as passionate as yourself though!