ILLUSIONS IN SKILL LEARNING
“the obvious move loses. standard advice conflicts. find the hidden illusion.”
The Lesson
Every skill has illusions that block progress. Tennis example 1: Obvious play (hit to empty space) loses every time-cross-court wins. Tennis example 2: 'Use loose grip' + 'buy good racket' conflict-store rackets are too light for loose grip. Pros add lead weights. No one tells you. Drums example: Perfect timing sounds mechanical, not musical. Pros can't explain what they do differently. They 'feel it.' The pattern: experts give advice they don't fully understand themselves. Always ask: what illusion is blocking me? What do the pros do that they don't mention?
Real-World Example
A founder follows standard startup advice: ship fast, talk to users, iterate. It's not working. They ask: what illusion am I missing? They discover successful founders in their space all had unusual distribution advantages no one talks about-a podcast, a following, a partnership. The 'hidden illusion' was that product quality mattered less than distribution.
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