Schrödinger’s Skill

April 26, 2015

I was sitting at a bar with two friends. One of them, the birthday boy, turned to our third companion:

“Go up and talk to her.”

“I’m not going to. She doesn’t look interested.”

“Don’t bother. He doesn’t have any game anyway,” I say, trying to defuse the situation between the drunk and the super-drunk.

“I have game! I just haven’t met a lady worth using it on,” said the third.

“So you have Schrödinger’s Game,” I reply. “Well, I won’t believe it until I see it.”

While clearly a conversation between a bunch of drunk assholes with half a “game” (#6 & #7) between them, there’s a valuable thought here.

Have you ever listened to a friend protest unconvincingly, saying that they can work out regularly/get a new job/write a book/learn to play the guitar/etc, despite all evidence to the contrary? Have you ever been that person?

I have. For a long time, I knew I could write decent fiction, even though few had seen my work. My fiction writing was Schrödinger’s Skill—I was certain I had it, even though practically no one had seen it demonstrated.

In this case, it turned out I was right, and when we opened the box, I showed that I had some measure of skill at writing fiction. But without showing my work, how would anyone have known? Myself included.

We can protest and claim abilities that no one has ever seen, but until we shut up and show our work, it’s all a lark—pretty words without evidence, nothing more.

If you want to claim those skills, you’re welcome to it. But if you want someone to believe you?

Show us.