Umarbek

Most People in Most Professions are Essentially Clueless Actors

Most people in most professions are essentially clueless actors but work by situational imitation, narrow mimicry and semi-conscious role-playing.

They've learned to mimic the behaviors, adopt the vocabulary, and follow the patterns they've observed in others who seem to know what they're doing.

This works surprisingly well in many fields. A mediocre lawyer can get by for years just by following templates and precedents. A middle manager can coast on corporate speak and delegation. Even doctors rely heavily on pattern matching and established protocols.

Most situations don't require the level of judgment that can be considered as breaking from the script.

In most jobs, maybe 1 in 10 people really understand why they do what they do. The other 9 are just good at pretending.

For example, many journalists today seem more interested in telling a good story than figuring out what actually happened. They're performing the role of "journalist" rather than actually investigating things.

The weird part is that when everyone copies everyone else, things can keep working for a long time. It only breaks down when something new happens that nobody has seen before. Then you find out who was really thinking and who was just copying. (e.g. 2008 crisis)