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You’re Not as Smart as You Think

Or how to be less wrong and get invited to more family events.

Charles Black M.D.
Mind Cafe
9 min readJan 7, 2025

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Outside Crested Butte, CO. Photo by the author and courtesy of Chuck Black Photography

The longer I’ve worked in my career, the less I feel I know what I’m doing.

Given that I’m a surgeon, this may not seem like the kind of confession I should make, but give me a few paragraphs.

When I graduated from five years of surgical residency, I knew the textbook answer to all the questions. I sat through mock writen and oral examinations and scored quite well. All my instructors expected me to pass my Board Certification exam on the first try. And I did.

Now, I have nearly three decades of experience, and I’m far less certain I could pass that exam.

It’s not that I’ve forgotten so much, but I’ve learned so much more. My experience has shown me there are exceptions to every textbook rule. Appendicitis may not always cause pain in the typical location, and numerous patients who exhibit classic symptoms of an inflamed appendix have had their healthy organs surgically removed.

It’s ironic, but surgery seemed more straightforward when I knew less about it.

That’s how it is with other things in life, too; everything seems easier the less we understand it.

Everything seems easier the less we…

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Mind Cafe
Mind Cafe

Published in Mind Cafe

Relaxed, inspiring essays about happiness.

Charles Black M.D.
Charles Black M.D.

Written by Charles Black M.D.

Dr. Charles Black is a general surgeon, author, photographer, outdoorsman, world traveler and fireside philosopher. Website:https://chuckbphilosophy.com

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