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Well, I think people have big aspirations, and these typically are achievable with lots of money, and people think you have to 'eat frogs' to make that money.

hnbad 4y ago
Ironically, eating frogs mostly helps making the frog industry a lot of money, not the frog eaters. Most of the people achieving things that require lots of money tend to be the ones who already started out with lots of money (even if it wasn't enough money to do those things right away).
Sharlin 4y ago
That’s of course totally culture-specific, and the entire point of the article is that people should be thinking more about whether their aspirations are in fact their own or are they just having goals they think they’re supposed to have, and wondering why they feel sort of empty inside.
happymellon 4y ago
Except when "you are what you eat", and rather than the big aspirations you actually become really good at eating frogs and don't get the opportunity to do these great things. Which is the big point about all these depressed kids with no direction.
jaegerpicker 4y ago
I've started to believe that the aspirations that our culture promotes and pushes are the problem itself. Instead of creativeness Western culture promotes monetary success. Instead of happiness in a family we dream of making a billion dollars in a startup. Instead of dreaming about exploring the galaxy we dream about private space travel and mining. Instead of solving humanities greatest challenges via learning and science we push private businesses profiting from half fixes and pointless changes (carbon credits or slow introduction of electric vehicles without public infrastructure as examples). I'm not against people being rewarded for their work but the reward has become more important than the work itself. This is likely a result of the huge wealth inequality Western culture is dealing with, when someone has dramatically less they are always drawn to those that have more and are willing to do almost anything to get there.

hnbad 4y ago

Ironically, eating frogs mostly helps making the frog industry a lot of money, not the frog eaters. Most of the people achieving things that require lots of money tend to be the ones who already started out with lots of money (even if it wasn't enough money to do those things right away).

Sharlin 4y ago

That’s of course totally culture-specific, and the entire point of the article is that people should be thinking more about whether their aspirations are in fact their own or are they just having goals they think they’re supposed to have, and wondering why they feel sort of empty inside.

happymellon 4y ago

Except when "you are what you eat", and rather than the big aspirations you actually become really good at eating frogs and don't get the opportunity to do these great things. Which is the big point about all these depressed kids with no direction.

jaegerpicker 4y ago

I've started to believe that the aspirations that our culture promotes and pushes are the problem itself. Instead of creativeness Western culture promotes monetary success. Instead of happiness in a family we dream of making a billion dollars in a startup. Instead of dreaming about exploring the galaxy we dream about private space travel and mining. Instead of solving humanities greatest challenges via learning and science we push private businesses profiting from half fixes and pointless changes (carbon credits or slow introduction of electric vehicles without public infrastructure as examples). I'm not against people being rewarded for their work but the reward has become more important than the work itself. This is likely a result of the huge wealth inequality Western culture is dealing with, when someone has dramatically less they are always drawn to those that have more and are willing to do almost anything to get there.