4 ms·

Competitiveness of any kind, with others or with oneself, whether physical or mental, seems to me like a crutch rather than a path to happiness. If you can onl

by scribu 6y ago

Competitiveness of any kind, with others or with oneself, whether physical or mental, seems to me like a crutch rather than a path to happiness. If you can only feel good about yourself when you're on the up and up, what happens when you start getting old and can no longer keep up with the young blood?

francisofascii 6y ago
You can still compare yourself to others in your age group. There needs to be a realization that there are always people better and worse.
- j4nt4b 6y ago
  Have you encountered mimetic theory? It's worth a read if you haven't yet. To boil it down: we measure ourselves by the people around us, and the more homogenous the peer group, the greater the pressure on each individual. We're all busy copying each other without consciously realizing it, but simultaneously we are mortally afraid of anybody thinking we are copying them. Here's a random overview: https://violenceandreligion.com/mimetic-theory/ https://violenceandreligion.com/mimetic-theory/
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    Mimetic theory sounds like a very middle class (in the pejorative sense, as an ever-anxious externally-measuring person: in german we would say "spear-carrier", in french "tiny urbanite", etc.) approach to life.
    - j4nt4b 6y ago
      Aha yes, in America it's often referred to as "Keeping up with the Joneses" I'm curious about your phrasing, however. In your view, is a middle class approach to life a life that simply conforms to the predictions of mimetic theory without awareness, or a life informed by its understanding and application?
      - 082349872349872 6y ago
        The former. (again, only in a pejorative context! Compare "épater la bourgeoisie", shetexe da sut inya.) Note that in this century, the mimetic middle class is much closer to the statistical middle class (the modal hump of the poisson distribution) than to the more historical middle class (those with enough property to weather a few years not working, but not enough for permanent leisure. Go back another century and one has the classes of Jane Austen, who wrote mostly about the upper middle, with a smattering of lower upper characters.)
        082349872349872 6y ago
        As to scapegoating: I'm reminded of Solzhenitsyn, who said that it's tempting to try to excise evil and separate it from society, but the attempt is doomed, as the line between good and evil runs not between ideologies or countries or factions or people but through all our hearts... Sili to deng fo decho da nagut, deng to mebi mowsh shetexa kori milowda, kowmang. Edit: also, conspiracy theorists may enjoy the double-scapegoating in the Passion, as told in Master and Margarita.

by scribu 6y ago

francisofascii 6y ago

You can still compare yourself to others in your age group. There needs to be a realization that there are always people better and worse.

j4nt4b 6y ago
Have you encountered mimetic theory? It's worth a read if you haven't yet. To boil it down: we measure ourselves by the people around us, and the more homogenous the peer group, the greater the pressure on each individual. We're all busy copying each other without consciously realizing it, but simultaneously we are mortally afraid of anybody thinking we are copying them. Here's a random overview: https://violenceandreligion.com/mimetic-theory/ https://violenceandreligion.com/mimetic-theory/
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  Mimetic theory sounds like a very middle class (in the pejorative sense, as an ever-anxious externally-measuring person: in german we would say "spear-carrier", in french "tiny urbanite", etc.) approach to life.
  - j4nt4b 6y ago
    Aha yes, in America it's often referred to as "Keeping up with the Joneses" I'm curious about your phrasing, however. In your view, is a middle class approach to life a life that simply conforms to the predictions of mimetic theory without awareness, or a life informed by its understanding and application?
    - 082349872349872 6y ago
      The former. (again, only in a pejorative context! Compare "épater la bourgeoisie", shetexe da sut inya.) Note that in this century, the mimetic middle class is much closer to the statistical middle class (the modal hump of the poisson distribution) than to the more historical middle class (those with enough property to weather a few years not working, but not enough for permanent leisure. Go back another century and one has the classes of Jane Austen, who wrote mostly about the upper middle, with a smattering of lower upper characters.)
      - 082349872349872 6y ago
        As to scapegoating: I'm reminded of Solzhenitsyn, who said that it's tempting to try to excise evil and separate it from society, but the attempt is doomed, as the line between good and evil runs not between ideologies or countries or factions or people but through all our hearts... Sili to deng fo decho da nagut, deng to mebi mowsh shetexa kori milowda, kowmang. Edit: also, conspiracy theorists may enjoy the double-scapegoating in the Passion, as told in Master and Margarita.