I like to think of myself as being smarter than the average person.
I’ve done no kind of study to come to that conclusion, but certainly, it’s how I feel.
But when I look at much of the evidence around me, I don’t really excel at anything.
I’m pretty much average.
I’m average height, of average weight, average shoe size, with average clothes sizes.
At work, I have average performance, with average pay, and I am part of the middle class.
As I look through the years, I’ve never really been above average at anything.
So why do I think that I’ve above average intelligence?
Welcome to the Superiority Illusion, or Illusory Superiority. A cognitive bias where people overestimate their qualities and abilities as compared to others. And as a cognitive bias, we aren’t aware that it’s present.
We all suffer from it (well, except for people suffering from depression). It probably exists to protect our self-esteem, which I need a lot of.
But I want to be above average and do great things. To be remembered as someone accomplishing great things.
Being average sucks. Few people remember the average Joe.
The biggest thing that sucks about being average is that every time there’s a sales in clothing stores, they’re out of your sizes pretty quickly if you aren’t there early.
I need better clothes.