Unconscious Incompetence, Conscious Competence and the fate of America

" I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

--John F. Kennedy addressing a White House dinner for American Nobel prize laureates.

The Phantom's older son, watching his younger brother work his way through a series of opponents at a wrestling tournament shook his head in wonder. "I will never be as good at anything in  my whole life as he is right now at this."  The boys were 13 and 11 years old. 

Of course, the older brother was quite wrong about that. He became a masterful kayak competitor, and for one shining moment, during a set of Olympic trials, he found himself in the number three position. He did not make the Olympics, but he was a masterful kayaker and more importantly, he went on to become a musician of great competence.  He now teaches piano in New York City.

That may not sound like a parent's dream, but as the Phantom struggles through his weekly piano lesson (by Skype) and he realizes each week just what it means to become an accomplished musician, what it means to gain mastery over anything. 

  A two year old dances to music, enjoying the sound, unaware she is not in time or really dancing. She has "unconscious incompetence."  When she tries to actually learn to dance, in time, in sync with the rhythm, she discovers she is incompetent and has to learn; that is the next step, "conscious incompetence." The Phantom has progressed from "Unconscious Incompetence" to "Conscious Incompetence." It is an uncomfortable place to be, a place of struggle and frustration, but it is necessary to achieve the third phase, "conscious competence," where you know you are doing it correctly, with great concentration and effort.

The Phantom has been stuck in this phase when it comes to hitting a baseball. He goes to the batting cages religiously, works on his footwork, his hip movement, his eye on the ball focus, his arm mechanics. He can hit the fastest fastball he will see in his league, but it's through deliberate, conscious training and effort. He has not reached the phase of "unconscious competence" in baseball. 

He is probably there when it comes to seeing patients. He has heard the patient histories  so often over the years, in so many iterations, he can recognize a story for a diagnosis with great ease, almost without effort, and he knows what is not a story for a particular disease, just as important. 

Go on youtube and watch the videos of people teaching you how to play music and you will get an inkling about the vast, deep and impressive level of competence which abounds in our world; watch a boogey woogie musician on line or in New Orleans and you will be astonished anew each time. These are the people who make one marvel at what human beings are capable of. 

Now consider our political leaders. Whether you are watching "House of Cards" or simply watching the local TV feed from the Town Council meetings or simply talking to a state legislator, you perceive the difference immediately.

In New Hampshire as in Maryland, state legislators are not likely to demonstrate much competence at anything. In Maryland, where the position is worth about $40 K a year, it is a job which is either the best job the legislator can hope to ever get or it is a sideline for a lawyer or realtor who is hoping to enhance his own business through making connections in Annapolis.  In New Hampshire, where a seat among the 400 plus House of Representatives pays $100 a year, the citizens of the Granite State get what they pay for. 

One of the delegates from Hampton insists building more roads will be good for the environment, better than building bicycle paths, because the more roads, the less congestion on those roads, less idling at traffic lights, which saves gas. Good for the environment. This man is not a bright light. Not the sharpest blade in the drawer. But he is typical of the New Hampshire legislature. Sadly, he is likely typical of many state legislators.  

Members of the United States Congress are not much better. There are some bright people in Congress, but, in general, the Congress reflects the bell shape curve or what is out there in the country, and that means mediocrity. 

We accept lesser minds in our government and in our teachers, because we simply do not think what they do is important enough to make the effort and to accept the expense entailed in upgrading these people and the institutions they degrade by their incompetence. 

We hope we can simply detour around the logjams bad legislators and poor teachers create. 

The Phantom wonders whether this is true in Japan, England, Germany and China.