My last post discussed the critical relationship between knowledge and confidence. One point I failed to mention is that at regular intervals in the learning process confidence should actually decrease as knowledge increases. At first it might seem logical that an increase in knowledge consistently leads to an increase in confidence, but this is not always the case.

The more a person learns, the more they discover holes in their own personal knowledgebase. A steady increase in knowledge on a particular subject will actually create fluctuations in a person’s level of confidence pertaining to the same subject matter. As a person increases their knowledge they open new doors leading to information that was formerly unknown. When a new door is first open a person’s confidence actually decreases slightly due to the sudden realization of what they don’t know. Their confidence will then slowly increase as all the new information is addressed and accounted for. Eventually another new door will open and the cycle will carry on.

If your level of confidence in what you know never ever decreases, you may not be learning enough.