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Bless you. Seriously. It's truly refreshing to hear such genuine humility and perspective. Too many people (on HN, in politics, and in everyday life) work hard
by monodeldiablo 10y ago
Bless you. Seriously.
It's truly refreshing to hear such genuine humility and perspective. Too many people (on HN, in politics, and in everyday life) work hard, hit it big, then draw a 100% correlation between the two. The reality is that lots of people are working hard, and only a tiny percentage get rich from it. Luck -- birth, education, time, place -- is too often underestimated in the rush to claim personal credit.
Like you, I have been profoundly lucky. I've worked hard for my piece, but I'd never be able to honestly look my lower-middle-class extended family in the eyes and tell them my wealth came because I worked harder than them. Because that would be a lie.
- return0 10y agohumility ? What is this 'humility' you speak of? There is a war on humility for like 20 years now. Things that people unashamedly say today would label them total lunatics 2 decades ago.
- blunte 10y agoI think that's because perceptions about what makes success have slowly shifted from the long path of toil to the superawesome promotion game. It's like the political cartoon I saw from a few months ago. The Jeopardy-style host said, “I’m sorry, Jeannie, your answer was correct, but Kevin shouted his incorrect answer over yours, so he gets the points.” http://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/a20602 http://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/a20602 Given the state of funding and never-profitable unicorns, it teaches new entrepreneurs that the way to success is through promotion and emotion.