4 ms·

I like this idea of a gift-effort balance. Everyone requires a different mix to shine. But effort seems more important, as I see hard-working "average" people e

by asciimo 10y ago

I like this idea of a gift-effort balance. Everyone requires a different mix to shine. But effort seems more important, as I see hard-working "average" people excel more often than lazy geniuses.

throwaway729 10y ago
Yes. But, I think the key realization is that whenever the incentives are strong enough, a lot of hard-working geniuses will be fighting for the prize. Hard-working geniuses are really hard to compete against, and if you don't realize that natural variation is a real thing, you can get discouraged pretty quickly.
- asciimo 10y ago
  Agreed. At this age, I'm content to let the hard-working geniuses move the world forward and inspire me, while I do the best I can in my limited corner of it.
- mack73 10y ago
  Screw those hard-working geniuses, always turning life into a freakin' competition ffs.
  - throwaway729 10y ago
    Just to clarify, that's not my opinion at all! Usually, those people are making disproportionate contributions to the world for comparably small rewards. Usually. We're lucky to have Einsteins and Bachs and Taos and an infinitude of less well-known but probably equally capable hard-working geniuses. I'm very grateful for hard-working geniuses who devote themselves to important problems! Some of them do apply themselves toward more secular ends, such as Gates. That's OK too, although the world takes care of gratefulness for me ;-) It's just important to realize they exist if you ever get into a situation where you're regularly competing with them.
- mmirate 10y ago
  > don't realize that natural variation is a real thing Google shows me nothing but out-of-context biology-textbook material, so I'll ask: what is the relevance here of "natural variation"?
  - throwaway729 10y ago
    I didn't mean it as a technical term. I just meant "some people are smarter/more productive than others for reasons beyond either person's control at the time of measurement". So it could be environmental factors (access to better support or higher quality educational experiences in early childhood). Or just genetic. I'm not positing any specific causes, just making a general observation that I find to be true of the world I see around me: especially at the highest levels, some people really are just smarter than others, and no amount of hard work could close the gap.
- Bartweiss 10y ago
  I learned this one looking at mathematics graduate students. There's plenty for non-geniuses to do, but someone who wants to be exceptional at their work should almost certainly pick a different field. There's a ridiculous amount of brainpower in the field, and if you're not near the top you're never going to be one of the superstars.

by asciimo 10y ago

I like this idea of a gift-effort balance. Everyone requires a different mix to shine. But effort seems more important, as I see hard-working "average" people excel more often than lazy geniuses.

throwaway729 10y ago

Yes. But, I think the key realization is that whenever the incentives are strong enough, a lot of hard-working geniuses will be fighting for the prize. Hard-working geniuses are really hard to compete against, and if you don't realize that natural variation is a real thing, you can get discouraged pretty quickly.

asciimo 10y ago
Agreed. At this age, I'm content to let the hard-working geniuses move the world forward and inspire me, while I do the best I can in my limited corner of it.
mack73 10y ago
Screw those hard-working geniuses, always turning life into a freakin' competition ffs.
- throwaway729 10y ago
  Just to clarify, that's not my opinion at all! Usually, those people are making disproportionate contributions to the world for comparably small rewards. Usually. We're lucky to have Einsteins and Bachs and Taos and an infinitude of less well-known but probably equally capable hard-working geniuses. I'm very grateful for hard-working geniuses who devote themselves to important problems! Some of them do apply themselves toward more secular ends, such as Gates. That's OK too, although the world takes care of gratefulness for me ;-) It's just important to realize they exist if you ever get into a situation where you're regularly competing with them.
mmirate 10y ago
> don't realize that natural variation is a real thing Google shows me nothing but out-of-context biology-textbook material, so I'll ask: what is the relevance here of "natural variation"?
- throwaway729 10y ago
  I didn't mean it as a technical term. I just meant "some people are smarter/more productive than others for reasons beyond either person's control at the time of measurement". So it could be environmental factors (access to better support or higher quality educational experiences in early childhood). Or just genetic. I'm not positing any specific causes, just making a general observation that I find to be true of the world I see around me: especially at the highest levels, some people really are just smarter than others, and no amount of hard work could close the gap.
Bartweiss 10y ago
I learned this one looking at mathematics graduate students. There's plenty for non-geniuses to do, but someone who wants to be exceptional at their work should almost certainly pick a different field. There's a ridiculous amount of brainpower in the field, and if you're not near the top you're never going to be one of the superstars.