Can self-doubt be a good thing?

Some people in positions of power or with celebrity status, such as high profile actors and entertainers, can develop an overblown sense of their importance and abilities.

Brad Pitt once admitted, “We are treated as special. We get away with things that other people can’t. And you start to believe the lie that you are special, that you’re better than other people. … Most of the time I fight it because I know I’m going to get older and it’s going to go away, but at times I succumb to it.”

In contrast – the staged photo is Charlize Theron, who has been widely praised for her egoless preparation and performance in “Monster.”

[Quotes and pic from ego / narcissism 2]

But most of us aren’t superstars, and many of us could benefit from a boost in positive self-regard. We may even experience feelings and attitudes that somehow we aren’t ‘good enough’ or ‘talented enough’ – feelings that can sometimes be harsh enough to be called the Impostor Syndrome.

In a new magazine interview, Emily Blunt [right] and Stanley Tucci, co-stars of The Devil Wears Prada [starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway] talked about self-doubt, and doubt in general. [Interview mag., May 2007]

Emily Blunt: “I really have that worry that I’ll wake up in the morning and think, ‘Oh God. I’m such a fraud, and they’ll find me out.’ I doubt myself a lot. And maybe that’s a good thing, because I think it would be limiting to have discovered my whole bag of tricks by now. Hopefully I will always be afraid of being a fraud, because then you never stop trying.”

Stanley Tucci: “Yeah, if you consider yourself a fraud, then no one else will. I believe that. It’s people who don’t consider themselves frauds who are the biggest frauds… I’m actually looking at a book on my dresser, and the title is ‘Doubt.’ I think doubt is an incredibly healthy thing. You just have to know its limitations and not let it stop you from doing something fully or executing something with authority.”

The book Tucci mentions may be Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson.