[reup]

I definitely agree with the jist of the op. Ignorance has a funny way of creeping up on you. It can be subtle and barely noticeable when you fall into a routine. Cbloom, I believe, is arguing that these habitual patterns can enact varying degrees of damage on your winrate, to the degree that you succumb to them.

There are so many factors to balance at the table in order to go deep into the flow of the game. If you choose to neglect any or all of them because your ego tells you you can just skate through a certain table, you're walking on thin ice. This type of 'surface' playing, however, can work, but only if your surface level is deeper than theirs. This is where the ego plays a large role. If you aren't able to accurately assess your opponents strengths and weakness and then determine how you fare in comparison, you're just kidding yourself.

Even after that comparison is made subconciously or however, you still have to adjust to the shifting dynamics of the table. Things change, people tilt, some try new things, and some don't, true. The point though, is that if you're not aware of how things are changing you're a step behind, no matter how many hands you've played.

Like Cbloom and others said, poker is situational, if you neglect any or all of the components due to ego you're not playing your A game.