
Being Average in the Age of Alpha - paulpauper
https://www.safalniveshak.com/being-average-in-the-age-of-alpha/
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tempsolution
There is nothing wrong with being average. You should have enough energy to
swim above the event horizon, where bad things happen (i.e. financial
instability and job insecurity, the root of all evil).

If you don't have the motivation to be excellent, don't try. There really is
no point to it, as the author pointed out. Excellent people have an inner
"drive" to get there and they seek tremendous joy from walking that path. If
you force yourself to do it, you will always be unhappy and your brain won't
be able to compete no matter how much you try because there is nothing more
important for success than this: You need to love what you do. But also, you
need to be at the right time in the right place, have the right environment to
strive and parents who have the ability to support you.

The world is a mean and unfair place...

~~~
friendlybus
Being above financial instability and job insecurity is a good thing. It
doesn't follow that the average person having a stable life means that the
world is cruel and unfair.

~~~
l1g2d5
But nobody really wants to be average. We all deep down want to be exceptional
or important or matter in some way - not average.

~~~
Cougher
Average people can matter in very important ways indeed.

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behnamoh
I would call it "being different" in the age of "crowds' standards". Really,
what people need to realize is that everybody is different from others in at
least one respect. Striving to become an "alpha" is like trying to win other
peoples' game: the rules of this game are written by other people and there
are already some who are far ahead of the others in this game. As a result,
chances of winning in other peoples' game are pretty slim. That's why it pays
to be different, in an age that promotes some widely accepted standard as
being the right one (the "alpha").

~~~
frankling_
Insightful comment. Similarly, competitive people prefer and create highly
structured environments and situations, where it is clear what to min-max for
and where they stand on the highscore list. Nuance and soft qualities go out
the window that way, but others can balance that out at some cost.

~~~
Terretta
Put another way: If at first you don’t succeed, change the rules.

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meesterdude
Perhaps stepping out of the "alpha" concept, and redefining what it means to
be a man, is worth considering. Humans are not boolean, nor do they exist as a
point along a singular axis.

To me, a "man" is someone who listens, who elevates others, who fights for
others, and is relentless in doing so. We need less "alpha" in this world, and
more "fierce gentleman". We need not warriors, but collaborators.

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imgabe
Average is fine in a normal distribution. In the power law distribution the
world is increasingly moving towards, average may not be so good.

~~~
vsareto
There are certain jobs and specializations in which you can't just be average.
You can find a place as an average doctor, but maybe not in neurosurgery.

But the real problem is "categorizing" people. You can't know whether someone
is cut out for something unless they try, and America in particular does not
like that kind of progression (after all, you can't try every career on the
planet -- you can easily die never knowing what you are good at). They only
really like people who choose to do a career they are good at on the first or
second try. Or they like people who can convince others they've never failed
at anything.

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golemotron
Most people don’t realize that being average is a matter of luck. It doesn’t
matter how hard you work, you just have to be in the right place at the right
time.

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Madmallard
Maybe intelligence has led to higher stress as we can better recognize what
competence looks like and thus what to aim after. So everyone knows what it is
better and they all want it, because they know it means the best chances at
evolutionary success, regardless of whether the individual is capable of
actually reaching that level of competence.

In games you can see this competitive struggle and meta forcing and how dare
you stray from obviously the best strategy. I believe there are correlates
everywhere there is a hierachy of competence.

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rdlecler1
The problem with exceptionalism is there are more talented people than
exceptional outcomes and so like a gambler you try your hand again hoping for
that lucky roll exactly because you feel that in another universe, if the ball
bounced right, you could be something so much more.

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shrimp_emoji
I feel neurologically-predetermined to fret about my deterministic cosmic dice
roll. D:

