4 ms·
It's like all the successful rappers who go on about how "I wanted to be a rapper when I was a teenager, and my guidance counsellor told me it's not realistic,
by hbn 3y ago
It's like all the successful rappers who go on about how "I wanted to be a rapper when I was a teenager, and my guidance counsellor told me it's not realistic, and that I should settle down with a safe, normal job. Now look where I am!"
Your guidance counsellor told hundreds of kids the same thing, and it was good advice for basically all of them. For every guy who made it rich with some crazy risky stock trade, there's hundreds of guys who lost everything. For every business that was about to go under but managed to pull through, there's hundreds that were in the same position and failed. The attitude of following in the footsteps of the lucky few just seems like it's teaching kids to double down on failure.
Everyone can spot the issue when someone is wasting their money in a casino, thinking they're one more pull on the slot machine away from becoming rich. But for some reason it's encouraged when it's reframed as "following your dreams."
- echelon 3y agoWe're all already dead in geologic time. Why not shoot for the stars? There's a big difference between a casino and actively throwing yourself at problem gradients, learning, adapting.
- smokel 3y agoBy the same nihilistic reasoning, why not aim for the path of least resistance? (I would not even be surprised if some of the survivors did precisely that -- copy behavior of their successful parents, or try to prove their worth in terms of money, lacking other means to receive confirmation.)
- swader999 3y agoShooting for the google Star and falling short into a mid programming career is a lot better than missing the NBA with not much more than busted knees to show for it.