welcome back to the skill issue series! so far i talked about people's false perception of progress and the fundamental loss of thinking ability. in this part of the series i'll be going over a very nuanced topic i.e. frustration.
its not something directly connected with lack of competence and self-growth so i'll be breaking it down into two parts:
- frustration + ego/authority: narcissism
- frustration + fear: insecurity/loss of authority
i'll also discuss about a cognitive bias, namely the "dunning-kruger effect", which is the direct product of narcissism and insecurity
narcissism
we all tend to go through the procedurally dumb predefined systems where we are conditioned to believe that the more work gives more results. a few months back we got infosys and l&t ceos in the news making headlines because of their statement of "90-hr work week".
and its no "smart work over hard work" logic that makes me call this dumb, companies like tcs, infosys etc. are known for mass hirings, and its so over-hyped that when you bag a job from these companies in campus placements its like you've actually achieved something great. so what calls for the 90hr work week despite having a humongous team thats always expanding.
This frustration stems from a system that conditions us to take blind shots at everything, hoping for success. from schools to colleges, we've been told to grind hard (10+ hrs daily) or risk failure. back when i had my prelims in 10th grade i overheard my classmate (who happened to be a teacher’s daughter) mentioned that despite studying for 8 hours a day, she still struggled. Meanwhile, I studied 3-5 hours, consistently performed better, and yet doubted whether I was doing enough after hearing her.
The same mindset gets carried into jobs, where working long hours is glorified, and questioning the system is discouraged. the absence of questioning reinforce the authority of people in-charge of these systems through control, rather than competence.
insecurities
but here's a weird paradox: people avoid questioning the systems due to fear of consequences but the inability to question contributes to even more fear. when combined with frustration, it gives rise to insecurities. insecure people will go out of the bounds to feel secure which builds the foundation for sales and competition for people selling dreams.
insecurities are clearly visible when you can't accept constructive feedback (criticism), This is especially true for those in positions of power. If every piece of feedback is treated as a personal attack, growth becomes impossible. However, there’s a fine line between genuine feedback and demoralizing slop—one builds you up, the other drags you down.
the over-saturation and increase in competition makes people want to protect their ego by concealing their flaws rather than fixing those as it'd make them fall behind. its hard for people to accept themselves the way they are when they're put in a comparison with a highly competitive maxima often leading to scarcity mindset that nurtures uninspired work, insecure people and narcissistic f*ckers.
dunning-kruger effect
all of this combined leads to a deeper phenomenon where people with limited competence are constantly in a bias that makes them overestimate their abilities. this cognitive bias doesn’t just make individuals less competent—it shapes entire industries and work cultures based on fear, deception, and overconfidence which is evident from the way indian IT industry is currently.
conclusion
Frustration, breeds toxic cycles of narcissism and insecurity if left unchecked. The illusion that working harder guarantees success blinds people from questioning whether the system itself is broken. Meanwhile, industries thrive on insecurity, selling false promises to those too afraid to challenge the status quo.
The real skill issue? It’s not just about individuals—it’s about the environment that cultivates them. If we continue to prioritize ego and authority over genuine competence and adaptability, we will keep repeating these cycles. The antidote is awareness and critical thinking—something our institutions often fail to nurture.
with this, i'd like to conclude the series. whatever rants i expressed through these three parts of writings were truly subjective and might not be true for all because at the end of the day life is about perspective.