# What is it like to be good at the thing that you are good at? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446 "2013-12-29T23:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HardlySanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HardlySanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HardlySanguine)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/21 "2013-12-30T10:21:23Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Being a good designer means: > > [ul] > [li]I’m acutely aware of encountering bad design in the world and I’m constantly critiquing and trying to redesign instances of poorly thought out objects.[/li][li]I view products from the perspective of problems they are trying to solve and I’m delighted when I find a new or novel approach towards solving a particular problem and I try to keep a mental database of interesting approaches used.[/li][li]I’m fascinated by human behavior and I’ll often seek to understand and predict how people react to certain circumstances.[/li][/ul] Do you think you could give an example or two for these? I’m not really understanding. What kind of design is it that you do? ---
**Author:** ![Riga\_Marole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riga_marole/32/7316_2.png) [@Riga\_Marole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riga_Marole)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/22 "2013-12-30T10:38:14Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > I’ve recently started doing a bit of study on the mechanics of film, reading up on stuff like camera angles, lighting, transitions etc. and I’m noticing that it’s starting to change the way I approach watching movies. I’m getting glimmers of awareness of how certain technical processes in film are designed to evoke certain feelings within the audience and when a particular shot is done especially well or poorly. It occurs to me that people who have gotten really good at this approach watching a movie completely different from that of the average person. > > So I was wondering, for the thing you’re really good at, how has it changed your perception and experience going about the world? I’m guessing that the film-maker you describe has discovered that his/her knowledge has become a spoil-sport. So when we shudder at the spider crawling across James Bond’s chest or leap out of our seats when the great white looms up out of the sea and gives captain Clint (or whatever his name was) a heart attack, the film-maker is thinking “ho-hum, I can almost see it’s a plane of glass between them and a wire mechanism in there.” ---
**Author:** ![Riga\_Marole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riga_marole/32/7316_2.png) [@Riga\_Marole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riga_Marole)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/23 "2013-12-30T10:46:20Z")
I have been growing my own bonsai for 20 years now. The \*\*positive \*\*thing is that now have the courage to try my own experiments, ones that no one else has done or even thought of. The **negative** thing is that now I judge bonsai more critically and I no longer appreciate having an “unrefined” bonsai as I did before. It’s almost as if technique impresses and interests me but the bonsai itself is less interesting … sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/24 "2013-12-30T13:46:05Z")
I’ve been motorcycling intensively for 15 years now, 170,000 miles. I’ve gotten good at doing the things that keep me alive when I’m riding in traffic, and I’ve gotten gotten good at riding twisty roads in a sporting fashion. I’ve never crashed, and close calls are exceedingly rare for me. Twisty roads present an opportunity to ride well, to try to do all the things that you are supposed to do: braking at the right point, leaning off of the bike to the inside of the turn, choosing a good line through the turn, keeping your arms loose, breathing, accelerating out. It’s still rare that I do _everything_ right in a turn, and it feels really good when I do. Like experts in other fields, I always notice other riders riding badly. In traffic, they tailgate (can’t stop in time, can’t see road debris that the car in front of them doesn’t care about), they ride in the center of their lane (that’s where the debris/oil tends to be), and so on. Every year I spend time down in the Smoky Mountains, riding fun roads like Deals Gap or the Cherohala Skyway, and invariably I end up stuck behind a rider who appears to be _absolutely terrified_ at being on such a twisty road (sometimes I even overhear them admitting as much when stopped at scenic overlooks). They creep through turns at a walking pace with the bike nearly upright, and maybe they even lean their body to the outside of the turn because they have an instinctual fear of the pavement. Sometimes they run wide because they’re so scared to lean over and can’t bring themselves to trust the traction of the tires. It’s one thing to suck at painting, writing, or guitar playing; you won’t die if you get a chord wrong, or if that happy little tree you painted looks like a fat green wedge. But it boggles my mind that people are willing to put their lives at risk by not learning to be good at what they’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/25 "2013-12-30T14:52:48Z")
> [@Riga\_Marole](#): > > I have been growing my own bonsai for 20 years now. The \*\*positive \*\*thing is that now have the courage to try my own experiments, ones that no one else has done or even thought of. > > The **negative** thing is that now I judge bonsai more critically and I no longer appreciate having an “unrefined” bonsai as I did before. It’s almost as if technique impresses and interests me but the bonsai itself is less interesting … sort of. I know what you are talking about, I have had an interest in bonsai for the past 50 years. I am not particularly good at it but now and then have been known to produce a nice specimen. I tend to favor the trees that just don’t look old but really are old. I also enjoy seeing young trees selected by someone with a good eye for development. Great hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/26 "2013-12-30T15:05:17Z")
Victorian literature. What’s popular, what’s not, the way it was written, the culture it came from. Plenty of movies and books make me want to scream because they’re so off-point. And then I have another, the one I did my Ph.D. in. Don’t want to name it because it might not be hard to figure out my real name… but I used to build a very particular kind of system, and I was extremely good at it and was one of the few people who knew how the systems functioned in the real world, when asked to do real work. And plenty of dilettantes think they can build these systems because “common sense!” Well, they’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/27 "2013-12-30T15:06:16Z")
I like being able to musically analyze pop songs. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/28 "2013-12-30T15:39:35Z")
The more you know the more you realize there is to learn. Then when you are at the very height of your skills, or even not there yet, it’s time to retire. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/29 "2013-12-30T16:43:05Z")
Silliness will make you a great enemy of the Serious People. You spend your days living with the fear of being discovered. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/30 "2013-12-30T18:27:01Z")
In 2013, the survey I work on has been through two separate sample expansions, and has spun off a couple of additional test surveys, and a survey of a minority group that makes up less than 1% of the population. This involved using new sources of sample, fitting them into a survey framework that really wasn’t designed for them, and doing all of this on a really tight schedule, exacerbated by the government shutdown. But with a combination of creativity and hard work, we pulled it all off. And we were able to do it because I am really good at what I do, and am part of a group of people here at work who are really, really good at what we do. And it feels absofuckinglutely great. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/31 "2013-12-30T19:15:48Z")
I have been playing hockey steadily for something like thirty years. I am not a great hockey player by professional standards, but am quite good compared to my peers. At the level I play, I can see plays developing before they actually happen, which is something you don’t often see in real life. I can also occasionally make the perfect pass or shoot the puck in a five inch space for a goal. It’s a very satisfying experience to know exactly what is required and then to deliver it in exactly the right moment. When you’re playing well, you almost exist above the action and can practically move both your opponents and your teammates into the positions you want them to be in. It’s quite a powerful feeling, not matched by other things that are so much more intangible and messy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/32 "2013-12-30T19:26:41Z")
Back when I was working, I had several skills spanning many years. The most satisfying part about it is that you become the “go-to guy”. The first thing I was really good at was troubleshooting electrical problems. Very satisfying, especially when I could figure out a problem before electricians with many more years experience. Later in my career, I found out that people would follow my lead and that I was a good leader and manager. As I rose higher in management, I found that those skills translated well into resolving personnel issues before they became giant clusterfucks. I was also very good at resolving contract disputes before they went to litigation. Come to think of it, those skills sort of go back to my previous ability for troubleshooting. I was even hired into a couple of jobs for the specific purpose of resolving (successfully, I might add) personnel and contract issues. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/33 "2013-12-30T19:40:58Z")
Chefguy, I enjoyed your comparison to troubleshooting with people and negotiating skills. It does seem that good troubleshooters tend to be open minded, logical and impartial when evaluating a problem of any kind. Enjoy your retirement you earned it! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/34 "2013-12-30T19:42:23Z")
> [@](#): > > What is it like to be good at the thing that you are good at? My wife is always excited to have me make love to her. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/35 "2013-12-30T19:50:51Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > The more you know the more you realize there is to learn. Then when you are at the very height of your skills, or even not there yet, it’s time to retire. The problem with that is that I’ve always been at the height of my skills up to that point in life, but it’s not always easy to tell what opportunities are coming up for expanding your skills. Also, there are times for rapidly expanding your skill set, but after a period like that, it’s not bad to have a period where you can consolidate your command of your new skills. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446/36 "2013-12-30T19:56:00Z")
I listen to music a lot differently than someone who has had no formal training. I geek out over key changes. I’m always listening for meter, and I get really excited when I run into a song that’s other than straight 4/4 throughout (or 2/2, in the case of country). I listen for/try to sing along with harmonies in most songs, because the melody’s too easy/obvious. But the weirdest thing is how I \*need \*music. When I go more than a couple days without listening to music I enjoy, I feel cranky and pent-up until I do (which I’ll admit is extremely weird). It’s not a sexual thing, but it reminds me of how young horny guys \*need \*orgasms. It’s not really a curse, though. Music will always be a part of me, and I love it. Here are my credentials, such as they are: [spoiler] I’ve never played professionally, but I did make the audition for the top concert band at Purdue University (3rd chair out of 4 altos). I played with that band for a semester, but scheduling conflicts prevented me from continuing. Ever since, I just kinda fell out of the groove until I purchased a sax again this year. I’m just now getting back into it. Makes my soul feel chicken-soupy. 😃 I’ve been reading and playing music since I was 8 years old. I played piano for \>20 years, alto/tenor sax \>10 years, clarinet for ~2 years, and mallet instruments & basic percussion (no drumset) for 1 year. We used to trade instruments in pep band for fun, so I dabbled in multiple treble-clef instruments including (but not limited to) flute, oboe, & trumpet.[/spoiler] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-like-to-be-good-at-the-thing-that-you-are-good-at/677446.md?page=1)