personally think your "survivor bias" link is a bunch of word salad.
No, statistics suggest that difficulty
with good instilled values or an
individual’s decision to depart from one’s societal norms produce a higher percentage of ‘outstanding’ success. Even Elvis Presley is(was?) arguably in that subset.
So there is a legitimate observation from those of us who have overcome circumstances to ‘identify’ culturally and hence: a degree of higher recognition among some observers; a tendency to notice or recognize success in “survivors” subset over the norm (universe) that encompasses most subsets.
While perhaps not ‘significant’ it is a valid observation I think.
for an accurate analysis you have to look at the big picture...
And the big picture is ‘the universe’ of which all subsets are contained. One can’t remove or diminish any subsets and remain accurate.
there is no guarantee of outstanding success in life
All power to Will and it's a great story but this is an important point.
We are often seduced by such stories …
Before saying these attributes are keys to success, we must also consider the many thousands of others who displayed similar attributes but did not do so well.
on the other hand:
And also consider those who did not display such good values/ethics but did well nonetheless.
There are many times where people possess the characteristics shared by ‘survivors’ or others “merely” having good values/ethics and yet achieve success without ethics. True. But they are neither admirable nor enviable. Even the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes says there is a terrible thing ‘before the heavens’ that there are some good men (gender nonspecific e.g. mankind) that labor hard and never achieve and there are wicked ‘men’ who have great achievements for themselves.
There is no guarantee of outstanding success in life; there is also no guarantee the detestable will suffer economically in accordance with their behaviors. Which is a good segue to:
I'm guessing you were born in this country, USA?
Yes, born and raised in New Hampshire.
his outlook should be taught to the vast majority of the entitled weak minded plebes in this world.
But no, society is teaching dissatisfaction as the norm, competitive success is evil, and that ‘we’ (sic) deserve more.
I'm curious as to what / why you expected more? (If you care to elaborate - if not, that's cool too!)
I expected more because as a youth I was told that I could be anything I wanted- an astronaut, president of the USA, I would always have ‘enough.’ Just had to get educated and work.
I grew up just over the edge of poor and middle class. My parents both worked. If they struggled financially us kids never knew it, but in hindsight I can see periods where they did struggle; we always ate, never had welfare, and we were sent at great cost to private school. So I had an erroneous stigma: better education = better life. That’s only one component.
What I observed as I proceeded through high school and dropped out of my planned college MBA to join the Management Training program of a large immigrant-founded regional restaurant chain was in conflict with what I was told. No- everyone can’t be anything they wanted to be. There’s only one president out of hundreds of millions of possibilities.
I did the restaurant manager training job because I observed that college students statistically were not as well off as working people - they spent a lot of money on school, then went into the workforce inexperienced after 3-7 years and didn’t cross experienced people’s income until over the age of thirty. And then only a few exceeded the means and averages over the next 20 years or so.
Though above was statistically true, I was still in ignorance of other significant factors to ‘success.’ I didn’t have an entitled attitude, but I think I expected my experience, intelligence, and work to just bring what I expected to me. Naïve.
I was missing a few things. Like the proficiency of bullshitting my way to better positions “in the office” was something I didn’t have. So often I wound up working for bosses who repeatedly did stupid things and slithered out of consequences and I grew to resent working for bosses ‘dumber’ than me that had a silver tongue. Often I was outmaneuvered by college educated people who knew how to “play the game” or politically advocate for themselves but had poor intellectual capacity.
I became disillusioned. Plus, from 25-35 years old or so I had a riotous, very poor marriage situation and I just didn’t notice ’my part’ in my career path. I was extremely capable, just not proficient at positioning.
Fast forward: I had begun reading books like “maximum success” and “7 Habits” and One Minute Manager through the nineties which began transforming my thought. The blossoming internet introduced me to so many other resources that were not as easily accessible before.
While I still have virtually no “office politics” skills, all this education
explained and
normalized my thoughts. I realized my observations of other people (which I previously was wrongly interpreting as ‘jealousy’ based on the culture of my upbringing) were accurate, and that capitalizing on my strengths instead of bemoaning my ineptness for political mobility would recreate myself.
So hard work I realized was killing me. Not that we shouldn’t work hard, but life is more than that. There’s relationships and alegacy of character I can leave behind for others. I often do 60-80hrs/wk still. Temporary- by choice, to reach a goal.
I'm curious as to what / why you expected more?
So above is context so you understand what I type here:
I was taught work hard, treat others well, don’t change jobs/career just because you’re intellectually unsatisfied.
I’ve had one man invest into my life when I was about 35-40. That was a springboard. It wasn’t a money investment, it was a character investment. No put-down to my parents but they didn’t understand how to lead me, how to raise me for maximum potential. They saw my boredom as laziness, and I was told I was lazy even into adulthood. Now, at 56, I have the fortitude and wisdom to recognize so many things. I wasted a lot of my life living up to my parents expectations but never getting their approval- nor achieving financial success. But I worked hard…
The guy that invested in me, in my character, I call a springboard because that was the beginning of me accepting myself and reaching for my potential instead of reaching for my parents’ approval.
So much happier now, and I’m free to observe others in curious wisdom instead of comparatively or in wondering “what’s wrong with me?”
Recognizing that equal start or even advantageous intellect does not guarantee equal outcomes was freeing for me. I expected more because I didn’t understand the why and aspirations components of success are acceptable to think about and are probably more important than education or “hard work” so I was disillusioned.
Another great freedom I experienced was discovering how wealthy we are in the United States. I’ve struggled- seriously struggled- sometimes but in spite of never being on welfare was never truly hungry. And never have been on welfare.
But in the US we are so wealthy that people who don’t /won’t even work can eat better than me, can live warm and dry and get medical care.
I am so wealthy that I can afford to dine out while in other parts of the world starvation is growing for the first time in 20 years.
It is an awe I don’t want to lose: there’s food everywhere, I am warm and dry, and I can earn money by being helpful and kind and encouraging - I’m an above-average salesperson that very rarely uses “closing techniques” and never manipulates people or lies. People usually ask me how to get started. I’m not tempted to steal to eat.
I am wealthy. I am free. And being a capitalist I can provide others with what they need with things they are happy to pay for and make good money doing so. I don’t have to take money from others, I can make money from willing buyers.
I am free. I don’t expect more, I am trying to achieve more.
?
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