Three thoughts on competence. I. When someone is less skilled than you are, it’s pretty easy to estimate just how much better you are. But when someone’s better than you, it’s very difficult to estimate how much better they are. If they beat you in every chess game you play, are they twice as good? Ten times? One hundred? Those might look the same to you. Most skills can’t even be compared so easily. How much better is another computer programmer, manager, interior designer, or scient...
