Categories: Experiences and daily life; Human nature
Word count/read time: 371 words; 1-1/2 minutes
First things first: Talent and skill are two different animals. Talent is something you
are born with, like an aptitude. Skill is a manifestation of talent, what you've learned,
how you apply it, and what comes of it, i.e. what you produce. "Years of experience" is a meaningless
number. In essence, the most experienced, skilled, and talented people
are quite capable of making low-quality stuff.
Far too many people rely on experience as a testament to their skill or talent.
They erroneously believe more experience translates into higher quality goods
but that is a fallacy. They are good talkers but usually not good doers.
I often get asked how long I have been doing this.
Long enough to know there is much room for improvement.
Learning widens the gap between what you know and the enormity of what
there is to know, i.e. what you don't know.
Sometimes it feels like I am going backward instead of forward!
There are few high-quality handmade chains in the marketplace for customers to compare.
As such, sellers misconstrue any "compliment"
as fact even when it comes from a random joe who knows nothing about jewelry.
False praise begins a vicious circle.
Lacking the functional capacity to be objective regarding your own work
has nothing to do with experience and often works the opposite way.
Likewise, difficult questions or unflattering observations are ignored
when sellers have something to hide.
For a craft as simplistic as chainmaking - open ring, insert it, close it -
measurements, science, and physics 100% prove what's good and what's not.
Everyone thinks they are the cat's meow, highlighting why the
Dunning Kruger effect thrives in the maille community.
It's a giant echo chamber that does not improve the art or
weed out the shady activities and players so ingrained within it.
Mediocrity is praised and celebrated because that is the norm.
Legitimate criticism helps me improve most. I welcome a difficult conversation
that enlightens me when it is based on facts. But when the best argument someone
has is that I don't close my rings properly and they have gaps...where
are the gaps when rings are fusion welded seamlessly across the entire joint?
Those talks are a long way away.
Posted by M: January 6, 2022
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