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Sunday 7 May 2017

Experience, Knowledge & Wealth

I studied psychology at Open University. The male equivalent to Educating Rita. I always found Willy Russell's screenplay, directed by Lewis Gilbert, an exceptional film. Readers may remember the fine performances by Micheal Caine, Julie Walters & Maureen Lipman. 

The 1983 film won numerous awards and was nominated for three Oscars. 

I guess a lot of people have watched it. It's worth a second viewing because it is exceptional with many subplots. At the heart of the subject, it is about identity. 

Rita, desperate to change, while Frank Bryant (Caine) an alcoholic, disillusioned by his past successes which have faded with time to a point where he ridiculed his former achievement as a gifted poet. 

Experience is so often taken for granted by those who have it and so wished for by those who are caught in its tide. I guess for most people wisdom, skill, knowledge becomes so implicit that it is difficult to view those years of inexperience. 

Gambling is very similar. I'm talking about a true insight, not someone thumbing their way through the sports pages of the nearest red top. Each to their own. I don't mean those words to sound critical but there is a difference between the expert and the novice. It is a fundamental difference which identifies a deeper understanding which most people would not even consider or even appreciate if spoken. 

From a psychological point of view, expertese comes at a price. That price is time. Ericsson (1990) says it take 10,000 hours to become an expert. 


It is a deliberate practice

They say knowledge is power. It is lots of things. Perhaps power is at the top of the list for those who wish to dictate.  

I studied psychology because it interested me. The reason why I studied to gain a degree was quite simple. To prove I could do it. Studying is hard work in ways but simple in others. It is simple in the sense that there is a clear path to success.


It's like watching The Wizard of Oz 

You follow the yellow brick road, bump into a scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion, avoiding the odd witch with striped socks, steal her ruby slippers, annoy another green-faced bitch, an apple tree that throws apples, visit the Emerald City, meet a wizard who sets you a challenge, get caught by flying monkeys, melt a witch, steal her broomstick, joyously sing ''the witch is dead'' before going back the the wizard and fly off in an errant balloon only to wake up to find it was all a dream. 

Hey presto, you have a certficate hanging on the wall. 

At the heart of the story, experience, you realised you learned something that you had all the time.  

A chosen, directed path, is something very few people can enjoy in most aspects of life. A lack of direction in life, business, health etc can be a problem. 

It can lead to your death.

One of the greatest strengths I have as a gambler is a strange concept for most people to understand. I am good at gambling because I don't really enjoy gambling at all. My judgment, logic and rationalisation are based on a discipline that states I bet because I know long term I have the odds in my favour. 

Another concept of psychology is called the Fundamental Attribution Error. A complicated word for a simple reasoning. A phrased coined by Lee Ross. 

Here is a definition: In social psychology, the fundamental attribution error, also known as the correspondence bias or attribution effect, is the claim that in contrast to interpretations of their own behavior, people place undue emphasis on internal characteristics of the agent (character or intention), rather than external factors, in explaining other people's behavior.

Basically, people interpret your behaviour differently to theirs. They blame you for mistakes but reason that it was another factor for theirs. 

You dropped that cup while washing up because you are clumsy not that it was slippery as hell. 

If you need to understand someone it is best to ask what they are thinking or show interest in their explanation. 

As with gambling, just because you do not know the key to success it doesn't mean that others cannot prove with their expertise they can win. 

    

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