For anyone with an interest in learning, there is always the lurking question in the back of their mind: “Can I do this? Am I smart enough?” The traditional classroom, has a whole support structure to reinforce the idea that yes, the student can learn the material being taught. The teacher uses carefully planned out lessons (we hope), works to keep the class engaged as a group, and as some the individuals pick up the material, others see that it can be done.

Some time ago, conventional educators got the idea that if students felt better about themselves, they would be more effective at learning. The premise was absolutely spot-on, but the mechanisms used for instilling confidence or “self-esteem” in students tried to make them confident by giving them successful experiences. That, in turn, was accomplished by making the tasks associated with learning easy. Dumbing things down. Educators ended up with increasing numbers of kids who had no more self-esteem than they did before, and they were probably bored to distraction. Further, they got the message that learning consisted of going through the motions, and had little to do with what old-fashioned, conventional educators might refer to as “hard work”.

They might have learned something from the Marine Corps. When one thinks of people who lack self-confidence, one does not generally think of a Marine. They ooze confidence and can-do élan, the kind that comes only from overcoming difficult challenges. But the Marine Corps method has its own drawbacks. Many who enlist wash out during basic training, which is not known for being a warm and fuzzy experience. Conventional educators, to their credit, are not willing to accept that kind of attrition and are still striving to strike an appropriate balance.

As I observed in passing elsewhere (“Toward a Paideia of Curiosity”), I believe that having the confidence to accomplish an intellectual challenge is one of the most important, and the most overlooked contributing factors for success. I have seen time and time again how someone lacking confidence tries to master some skill, and they begin second-guessing themselves, mentally looking back over their shoulders, giving up too soon. By the same token, someone with confidence (or even someone who doesn’t know they’re attempting something hard) wins through and sometimes even makes it look easy.

If you’re pursuing the way of the autodidact, you are less likely to have the group reinforcement or any of the other advantages of a conventional education help see your way through new or difficult intellectual terrain. That’s why you need to bolster your personal study efforts with a mentor (or more than one), a support network, colleagues and even critics. Most students in college end up building a support network of some kind; formal ones consisting of professors, TAs, librarians, administrators, and so forth, but also informal ones of family, friends and study partners. As you build your personal support structure, keep this in mind. In later installments, I will return to the issue of confidence as one of the guerrilla scholar’s tools.