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Overdeveloped Amateurs Jun 2026

Trust in universities, credentialing bodies, and legacy media has collapsed. When the professionals fail (2008 financial crisis, Iraq War intelligence failures, the COVID lab-leak debate), the public becomes receptive to anyone with confidence—even if that confidence is built on a narrow, fragile foundation.

If you suspect you might be an Overdeveloped Amateur—and if you are reading a long-form article, you probably have the self-awareness to avoid the worst of it—here is the antidote: overdeveloped amateurs

Fiction Writers: What do you do first: Characters or Worldbuilding? : Many successful writers argue for building characters

: Many successful writers argue for building characters first and letting the world-building happen "on the fly" or in service to the plot. Proactive Steps he was an obsessive generalist.

Before we dismiss them, history demands a footnote. The Renaissance was driven by "overdeveloped amateurs." Leonardo da Vinci wasn't a professional engineer or a professional artist; he was an obsessive generalist. The Wright Brothers were bicycle mechanics—quintessential overdeveloped amateurs in aeronautics.