The Osmosis Fallacy:

If you’re immersed, will you learn by default?

It's easy to think you can absorb through osmosis. That you'll hum along and improve simply because you are present.

But immersion & proximity are not sufficient.

Learning is a result of deliberate thinking.

You can live in France for years—and not speak French fluently (or at all).

You can hang out with blacksmiths—and not know how to work with metal.

You can talk every day with a colleague in sales—and not be able to command a room like they can.

You can hover in your parent's kitchen, and not know how to recreate your favorite meals.

You can work with creatives, and not become more creative.

It's one thing to watch an artist paint and assume you know how the process works.

It's another thing to be the one holding a Winsor & Newton hog bristle brush, deciding which color to dip into first.

If learning by osmosis sounds too good to be true...

It's because it is.

On the bright side:

If you learn a lot just by being exposed, imagine how much further you could go if you actively tried.

https://www.weskao.com/blog/the-osmosis-fallacy