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A few comments: Another reason that elites often feel like losers is that they are at the very tail end of the bell curve when it comes to whatever skill or ta

A few comments: Another reason that elites often feel like losers is that they are at the very tail end of the bell curve when it comes to whatever skill or talent they are elite at. At the end of the bell curve you have a huge variance between people, in a way that you do not in the middle of the bell curve. So the chances are very good that you are in close proximity/competition to someone who is not just better than you at something you are supposed to be good at, but much, much better/smarter/faster/etc. I experienced this phenomena in college and grad school. As for what is to be done, the best thing I can think to do is to produce more elite slots by devolving our increasingly consolidated world to more local control. This will produce more elite slots at the cost of some efficiency, but that's probably the right trade off for "loser" elites, as well as for non-elites for whom the elites would become more accessible/more closely aligned.

flappyeagle 4y ago
It’s hard to localize when the Internet exists. That’s the root of the problem IMO. All of a sudden you’re competing on the global stage for everything and Internet scale and distribution creates winner take all effects for everything that can be expressed in text, audio, and video
dilyevsky 4y ago
Exactly. It’s like prof Lambeau character from Good Will Hunting - he’s at the top of his field (Fields medalist) and then he sees someone like Will and it just destroys his self worth. Most “regular” people who interact with Will probably dont even realize what he’s capable of
- CyberDildonics 4y ago
  That is a fictional movie and not based in reality.
  - dilyevsky 4y ago
    Next you gonna tell me he also didn’t get stranded on Mars?
chinaman425 4y ago
[dead]
Mandelmus 4y ago
At the end of the bell curve you have higher variance between people? Aren't two people at close points of the curve by definition similarly skilled? In fact, for two close x-values of two people at the tail end of the curve the y-values (skill levels) are much closer than those of two people closer to (but somewhat off from) the median, where the slope is steeper.
- addcommitpush 4y ago
  Let's do a simple experiment. Say skill is normally distributed. Let's take 1000000 people and draw their skill levels from a standard normal, and sort them by the skill levels. What is the difference in level between the 500000th person, and the person 1000 spot above them? 0.00252225 (in this simulation). What's the difference in skill levels between the 1000000th person and the person 1000 spots below? 1.596959. The 1000-person gap is 633 times larger at the top than the middle. skill_levels <- rnorm(1000000) %>% sort() skill_levels[501000] - skill_levels[500000] skill_levels[1000000] - skill_levels[999000]
- blablablerg 4y ago
  Yeah the wording was not completely accurate but I assume he means that the tails are long.
csa 4y ago
This reminds me of Brian Scalabrine — nba bench warmer who could destroy pretty much any rec: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Scalabrine#Fan_support https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Scalabrine#Fan_support “In 2013 in response to criticism over him being in a bench role throughout his career and to claims that many would beat him 1-on-1 Scalabrine stated "I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me", suggesting that there is a huge difference between any (active or retired) NBA player and the majority of those outside the league. In an event organized by The Toucher and Rich Show selected volunteers had the chance to play 1-on-1 against Scalabrine (until 11 points with a margin of 2). The format was called the "Scallange" and Scalabrine played four games (one against each of the voluntary contenders). Scalabrine won every game with a combined score of 44-6. In an additional game Scalabrine played against the three hosts of the show and won 11-1.”
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  Yeah people seriously underestimate how skilled professional competitors of all kinds are. You're used to seeing them compete against others at their level, which makes it seem reasonable. In most sports the worst professional would dust the best amateur without even warming up, as in that example.
  - csa 4y ago
    My favorite story was from a former coworker of mine. He was 6’2” and a former high school basketball player. His girlfriend was about 5’7” or so and was a starting point guard for a women’s pro basketball team in Turkey. They would play make-it-take-it to 21, he would start with the ball, and she would spot him 19 points! He said he beat her once, and that was basically due to two lucky shots from the perimeter.
    - antisthenes 4y ago
      Being anything in high school is pretty meaningless, since they accept everyone regardless of skill. So being a 6'2" HS basketball player is just about as much a qualifier as 'reasonably athletic young random dude that's above average height'. So no wonder someone like that would lose to a pro player (male or female) In fact that's exactly what high school activities are for - skill discovery with low stakes.

flappyeagle 4y ago

It’s hard to localize when the Internet exists. That’s the root of the problem IMO. All of a sudden you’re competing on the global stage for everything and Internet scale and distribution creates winner take all effects for everything that can be expressed in text, audio, and video

dilyevsky 4y ago

Exactly. It’s like prof Lambeau character from Good Will Hunting - he’s at the top of his field (Fields medalist) and then he sees someone like Will and it just destroys his self worth. Most “regular” people who interact with Will probably dont even realize what he’s capable of

CyberDildonics 4y ago
That is a fictional movie and not based in reality.
- dilyevsky 4y ago
  Next you gonna tell me he also didn’t get stranded on Mars?

chinaman425 4y ago

[dead]

Mandelmus 4y ago

At the end of the bell curve you have higher variance between people? Aren't two people at close points of the curve by definition similarly skilled? In fact, for two close x-values of two people at the tail end of the curve the y-values (skill levels) are much closer than those of two people closer to (but somewhat off from) the median, where the slope is steeper.

addcommitpush 4y ago
Let's do a simple experiment. Say skill is normally distributed. Let's take 1000000 people and draw their skill levels from a standard normal, and sort them by the skill levels. What is the difference in level between the 500000th person, and the person 1000 spot above them? 0.00252225 (in this simulation). What's the difference in skill levels between the 1000000th person and the person 1000 spots below? 1.596959. The 1000-person gap is 633 times larger at the top than the middle. skill_levels <- rnorm(1000000) %>% sort() skill_levels[501000] - skill_levels[500000] skill_levels[1000000] - skill_levels[999000]
blablablerg 4y ago
Yeah the wording was not completely accurate but I assume he means that the tails are long.

csa 4y ago

This reminds me of Brian Scalabrine — nba bench warmer who could destroy pretty much any rec: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Scalabrine#Fan_support https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Scalabrine#Fan_support “In 2013 in response to criticism over him being in a bench role throughout his career and to claims that many would beat him 1-on-1 Scalabrine stated "I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me", suggesting that there is a huge difference between any (active or retired) NBA player and the majority of those outside the league. In an event organized by The Toucher and Rich Show selected volunteers had the chance to play 1-on-1 against Scalabrine (until 11 points with a margin of 2). The format was called the "Scallange" and Scalabrine played four games (one against each of the voluntary contenders). Scalabrine won every game with a combined score of 44-6. In an additional game Scalabrine played against the three hosts of the show and won 11-1.”

giraffe_lady 4y ago
Yeah people seriously underestimate how skilled professional competitors of all kinds are. You're used to seeing them compete against others at their level, which makes it seem reasonable. In most sports the worst professional would dust the best amateur without even warming up, as in that example.
- csa 4y ago
  My favorite story was from a former coworker of mine. He was 6’2” and a former high school basketball player. His girlfriend was about 5’7” or so and was a starting point guard for a women’s pro basketball team in Turkey. They would play make-it-take-it to 21, he would start with the ball, and she would spot him 19 points! He said he beat her once, and that was basically due to two lucky shots from the perimeter.
  - antisthenes 4y ago
    Being anything in high school is pretty meaningless, since they accept everyone regardless of skill. So being a 6'2" HS basketball player is just about as much a qualifier as 'reasonably athletic young random dude that's above average height'. So no wonder someone like that would lose to a pro player (male or female) In fact that's exactly what high school activities are for - skill discovery with low stakes.