I read an excellent post today from Morgan Housel called Experts From A World That No Longer Exists. The core idea here is that the work required to become an expert in a field also builds up resistance to certain ideas. Experts are often against trying ideas that have failed in the past and are quick to caution new-comers about these ideas. Inversely, new-comers do not have the established knowledge and experience which may limit their overall ability but leaves their thoughts completely unobstructed. The idea was driven home for me with the examples given from the dot-com boom; business ideas that were shunned and failed have since become multi-billion dollar businesses like Chewy and Amazon. One must allow their skills to develop to an expert level while still seeing the world as a newbie, or watch the world that they are an expert in cease to exist. Those of us who refuse to try something since it has already been tried before will miss out on opportunities that arise as our world changes around us.

One idea that is closely tied in with this article is that of Juvenoia, a word used to describe an older generation's irrational fear of the younger one. In this context, this pertains to the expert's fear and misunderstanding of the new-comers. Just because you can't understand them and/or they are different does not inherently mean that their actions or ideas are worthless. If anything, some of the most radical changes of the past century have come from a new generation taking something that "belonged" to their forefathers and making it their own. Rock and roll, hip hop, and first person shooters are all things born out of putting a spin on something that existed before. At the time, the old generation recoiled at these changes, saying that the "kids these days are doomed".

Don't get stuck screaming about your lawn; develop the skills of an expert but maintain a childish view of the world. Only a fool would think anything is possible.