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Experience Matters...Sometimes
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Categories: Experiences and daily life; Human nature

Word count/read time: 330 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. 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!

 
Learning widens the gap between what you know and the enormity of what there is to know, i.e. what you don't know.
 
There are few high-quality 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.

Likewise, difficult questions or unflattering observations are ignored. Lacking the functional capacity to be objective has nothing to do with experience. For something as obvious and simplistic as chainmaking, measurements, science, and physics 100% prove such things.

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 so ubiquitous within it.

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 join? Those talks are a long way away.


Posted by M: January 6, 2022


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