unwarranted confidence: classic or dud?

Leeroy Jenkins to thread

when it accompanies someone saying "hey, check this out!" and attempting some dumb feat that just occurred to them, usually to fail dramatically: classic

when it's someone who thinks they understand the mysteries of the universe because someone paid them to do something (see: nearly every LinkedIn post): dud

confident people are generally dud, in fact confidence is almost always unwarranted.

Dud but it also led me to many amazing experiences in music, when I was running on sheer willpower and enthusiasm instead of skills. I think this is the power of youth, you just want it so badly and it's probably better than not putting yourself out there. And learning through semi-embarrassing experiences is a time-honored pathway (maybe not recommended for doctors, pilots, etc).

in fact confidence is almost always unwarranted

what about that dude that climbed Half Dome without a rope? I don't know if it was a good idea, but certainly would require a certain level of confidence

(or El Capitan or whatever it was)

Dud in theory, classic in practice

As per CaAL, since all confidence is unwarranted, you have to eventually be the dud if you want to get anything done.

we're figuring out quickly which posters are from countries that have tall poppy syndrome

it’s funny when ppl fa&fo

confident people are generally dud, in fact confidence is almost always unwarranted.

― giving you schtick (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, December 1, 2025 3:59 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

i want to say that i disagree with you, but i'm second guessing myself

I'm assuming CaaL is very carefully using the toilet every time

resentment of this to a high degree- we might call some of the statements made about it upthread very.... confident.....in their projections- is a tell

I will never know what this feels like because I feel unconfident even when doing things I've mastered, but I feel like I've saved myself from many horrible moments of trying things I was ill-equipped to try.

the only time I remember having a moment like that, I was at basketball camp and about to shoot a three and I said "this is my best shot!" and air-balled it, while a kid next to me said "I would hate to see what your worst shot is"

also in kindergarten on the first day of school, I got in an argument with a first grader and told him I was going to use the karate I'd used from the show Sidekicks to take him out, then he hit me in the stomach and I went down.

this is why I don't have confidence.

ernie reyes jr got a lot to answer for

i think the last time i was in a fistfight was in a chipper after having seen the matrix

and i was sober

was it against a guy in a black suit and sunglasses?

resentment of this to a high degree- we might call some of the statements made about it upthread very.... confident.....in their projections- is a tell

i think the last time i was in a fistfight was in a chipper after having seen the matrix

so, in 1999?

Nah this was last Friday

confidence, whether warranted or not, should only be an internal state. externalizing it rapidly becomes bragging.

voted dud, because unwarranted confidence often leads to screw ups that can easily have negative repercussions for other people.

i think the other thing is that many things we've mastered tend to become invisible to us. we become self-conscious about the things we're actively working on, without realizing that things we do unthinkingly might seem amazing to an onlooker. just a thought for those here who proclaim to have "zero confidence"

otm

"This” = arrogance (as per thread topic), or any level of confidence (as per where the thread went)?

Nah, he's talking about the toilet.

Again? Lad’s obsessed

mastery isn't something you achieve, it's similar to perfection. it's always a level above where you are

i'm a girl whose central trauma has caused her to believe that the rules about literally anything could change overnight, so for decades i had zero confidence, warranted or otherwise, wouldn't even believe people when they told me i was good at something. now there are some things about which i'm confident to an unwarranted degree just through age, experience, learning to trust myself, replacing almost all of the testosterone in my body with estrogen, etc. (i'm the best performer at karaoke, i'm the best dancer in the club, sometimes i can be a very good writer, etc.)

i hate unwarranted confidence in men, admire it in women while hoping it'll turn into warranted confidence

imo the best confidence is that which allows you to be confident you'll be able to make a reasonable attempt, with the recognition that you might not get the desired outcome every time

yes I like that

easy confidence is best

was it against a guy in a black suit and sunglasses?

― Edward Albee Sure (Neanderthal), 02 December 2025 18:15 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

squire it was against a heavyset but giant young lad i was, let's be clear, unwarrantedly confident

“This” = arrogance (as per thread topic), or any level of confidence (as per where the thread went)?

yeah tbf more where the thread went

im not sure id equate arrogance and unwarranted confidence tho tbh?

guess you've got to frame the unwarranted confidence in a narrative to get away with it, a lot of people are very good at that and you have to give them credit for it.

i think a lot of people go through life without worrying whether they are being overconfident or not and probably benefit from that as a whole and i think there's a lot of people who wish they had that and they hates it yes they does they hates it and they have to tell themselves stories about how horrible the former are and how unfair it is.

idk tho maybe not

Well the thread spun off from the one about ppl thinking they could totally land a plane! I think that prob counts as arrogance (or just foolishness tbf)

Would def push back against things like even warranted confidence should never be externalised — I would like my skydiving instructor to have a (warranted!) assured mien, thanks — and again I do think there’s an unhealthy who-do-they-think-they-are cultural aspect

Speaking, as you all must know, as someone very much on the not confident side of this

yes some warrants i very much would like to see displayed outside the door of the office that is very true

I wish more people had win’s intelligence and lack of confidence instead of the inverse

phone accurately recognised that wins’s isn’t a word

he's a good un

actually at work I'm incredibly confident to the point where people flag me down for help on everything, but I've also been here forever

Voted dud. Unwarranted confidence = “let's just do it and be legends, man” nonsense

See also "fake it till you make it".

I worked in a summer school in the late 2000s and most of the other people working there were students who had been to a few expensive private schools in the area. They were all weirdly confident, to the extent that they seemed unable to empathise with anyone who lacked confidence. I remember one girl talking about an acquaintance she didn't like and everything she described was just obviously shyness and anxiety, but she interpreted this as deliberately being difficult because that was just not something she'd ever had to deal with.

that girl? now a ceo at a Fortune 500 company

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i don’t need to wait for the results, i’m absolutely positive this will go overwhelming for “dud”

Confidence is apparently so alien and off-putting to me that I have been forever told that my use of "likely", "suggests that" and "not to my knowledge" etc is excessive. I'm all about acknowledging the p < 0.05 outcomes lol

classic/borderline necessary in sports, dud everywhere else

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.