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"Potential" is a myth. Our "potential" is determined by our genetics and environment. I believe each human does his "best" and by that I mean, does what he thi
by readme 14y ago
"Potential" is a myth.
Our "potential" is determined by our genetics and environment. I believe each human does his "best" and by that I mean, does what he thinks he needs to do to get the things he wants, based on his own priorities. For some people, this is sitting at home and playing games all day. For some it's writing an operating system. For some it's going to the moon.
Essentially I believe that any of us, at any given point in our lives: could not have done any better than we did. I believe we will always do what we want to do, and that's that. That will, that desire to do something by the way, it's just an illusion. It's an abstraction built upon the deterministic movement of physical phenomena.
I was told by about a million teachers in high school "oh you have such great potential, if only you applied yourself"
It took me until my mid twenties to realize that I was applying myself. I have a limited capacity for application.
Even if you aren't ultimately limited by your cleverness, your limitations in capacity for execution can thwart your career.
Thus I'm 25, no degree, hack for fun, contract work here and there, and otherwise I could care less. I can execute uninteresting work, but I have a limited tolerance for it. Perhaps its more of a blessing than I think though, because it's really cemented in my mind that I must make and sell my own products.
I want a degree. Maybe I'll get one someday.
- zeeed 14y agoPersonally, I wish you good luck. Your wanting is all that it's required. Work on that.
- eddy_chan 14y agoI might add that if you make and sell your own products, then a degree is completely unnecessary for you given the amount of 'free' education that can be obtained via the internet today. For 99% of people out there, a degree is a institutional stamp of approval that employers seek because it's what every other employer out there does. People get a degree because it is necessary for a BigCorp job, it's a self perpetuating cycle. But it sounds like you want to learn and research to satisfy your a curiosity within yourself which is the only case I would say an academic degree is a good thing to strive for.
- thatusertwo 14y agoThere is some truth to that, but I know of times when I could be doing more then I was doing. Its easy to do nothing one day, when doing 2 hours of work would have made the day feel at least a little more productive and thus more towards ones potential.
- readme 14y agoThat's where the confusion comes in. You think you could have done more. The reality is, you couldn't have. The neurons in your brain would have fired the same way no matter what. Each of them took a predictable path based on prior causes and effects, regardless of how complex and humanly incalculable it was, I am convinced it was a deterministic one.
- jaekwon 14y agoI would say the same but instead of labeling it a myth, label it as mislabeled. Rather than equating potential with capacity, say that everybody has the capacity for potential. That's a more physically accurate description of motivation. The trick is use this potential to replenish motivation, and to grow capacity so you can do it better and faster.