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Reasons not to become famous

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251–260 of 428 posts

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#251
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a few millions in an index fund and are discrete about it, no one is going to take it. There are many rich people who live ordinary lives.

You're basically never 100% safe. In this particular case, the broker at which you bought the index fund units can scam you. It actually happened in Poland maybe 10 years ago - managers at a respectable brokerage firm were taking in orders from people but, instead of buying the requested papers, bought something else which they believed would be more profitable. They ended up being wrong and, when the clients wanted…

You are never safe but millions/billions gives you options.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#252
post #195

So I only see three reasons to be famous: 1. The attention and adulation is your drug. I think there's no shortage of people who fall into this category. 2. To convert that fame into opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have; and 3. To convert that fame into money. Obviously if you're just plain rich then (3) is moot. If you fall into (1) then money can buy you fame to a degree. So that leaves (2). Wealth will give y…

> And really what is the practical difference between having $20m and $2b? Sure you'll have nicer houses and more of them. You may well have a super-yacht at that point. But who cares? I know I don't.

At $20m you can shape your own world, and your family's. But at $2bn you can change society. You can buy a lot of influence both by directly spending the cash to accomplish goals and by bribing politicians to act on your behalf.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#253
post #6

The post has a good quote from Bill Murray: > I always want to say to people who want to be rich and famous: ‘try being rich first.’ See if that doesn’t cover most of it. There’s not much downside to being rich, other than paying taxes and having your relatives ask you for money. But when you become famous, you end up with a 24-hour job. . . . The only good thing about fame is that I’ve gotten out of a couple of spee…

Bill Mahar was talking about fame recently and he said it was very nice. Because people generally perk up and are friendly most everywhere you go.

But I think it goes the other way when you become super famous.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#255
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never said I am after bodybuilder physique, I mentioned I am after "fight club" look only but little more defined I'd say. (think Henry Cavil in superman) I've done enough research to know women find huge body a turn off. I trained 6 years in a local gym without ever achieving that fight club look and within 3 months after steroid use, I reached there and surpassed my expectations. When I started - I had patchy bea…

So I started doing Karate since 5 years ago. Before that I was not chubby but not fit either. I have cheek fat and my arms, chest and belly have some fat as well. I started doing Karate and my weight went down quick and I notice my face gets leaner and now I have a defined jaw line. I’m not sure maybe just my genetics but maybe you got your jawline from losing weight. 3 years ago met a girl online, dated her and she…

The bod from doing BJJ kind of surprised me too. It's more than enough to have the post-roll high but what looks back in the mirror is nice too. Unfortunately the better one gets, the less of a physical workout it is. Having a little teenage girl higher belt choke you out 20 times in a row is kind of hilarious. Yeah, another benefit - sincere humility combined with a balanced confidence.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#256

Counterpoint: You want to help people, educate people, lift people up — and your only talent best suited for this is your writing skills, your speaking skills, your musical abilities or your acting skills. Fame is how you reach a larger audience. My high school teacher may have inspired a number of his students to love and pursue astronomy, but Carl Sagan inspired orders of magnitudes more.

Counter-counterpoint: If you are not too picky about the type of good you want to do, money can buy you an astonishing amount of it. See the effective altruism movement, e.g. https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/impact-calculator/ . For a thousand dollars you can provide 781 person-years of save drinking water or purchase 500 bednets to protect against malaria.

Unless you are over-proportionally suited or talented at being famous, you can basically always do more good by earning and donating as much money as you can.

(Note, though, that it requires more reflection and conceptualization to feel as good by giving remotely than by giving to people locally or in your community.)

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#257
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I started - I had patchy beard and face with no well defined jaw. After steroid use - I've now full beard and square jaw Do the steroids you take include HGH (human growth hormone)?

>Do the steroids you take include HGH (human growth hormone)? I take Testosterone Enthante 600mg and primobolone 250mg per week, injections and I cycle them on and off. HGH doesn't work some guys told me but I never tested it.

Did you do all your own research or did you go through a specialist?

Hopefully you are getting regular monitoring and testing because big health problems can sneak up on you over time.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#258
post #195

So I only see three reasons to be famous: 1. The attention and adulation is your drug. I think there's no shortage of people who fall into this category. 2. To convert that fame into opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have; and 3. To convert that fame into money. Obviously if you're just plain rich then (3) is moot. If you fall into (1) then money can buy you fame to a degree. So that leaves (2). Wealth will give y…

Fourth reason: To be to be remembered after you’re gone.

Thing is, nothing matters to you after you are gone. Unless we become ghosts that can observe. Unlikely

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#259
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Kevin Hart was known as Lil’ Kev the Bastard until one of his early mentor told him to drop that nickname. This is also just a monumentally bad name. In comedy alone, there are plenty of people with nicknames or not-their-actual name: - Louis C.K. (Louis Székely) - Jon Stewart (Jon Leibowitz) - Larry the Cable Guy (Daniel Lawrence Whitney) - Mel Brooks (Melvyn Kaminsky) - Gene Wilder (Jerome Silberman) - Tim Allen…

Many of those seem like pen names covering for ethnicity rather than preserving anonymity. I see Hungarian, Jewish, German, Polish...

In show business, stage/screen names are often used to fit the actor's desired image. This definitely fits in with the ethnicity thing--most Americans are not going to see someone as an "everyman" if his last name is too "ethnic". But this was once common even for people who already had Anglo names; Gary Cooper apparently didn't think "Frank James Cooper" projected the right image, and I don't think anybody would accept Marion Morrison as a cowboy/war hero as readily as they accepted John Wayne. In other cases, people come up with stage names just because they're more cool. Who would you rather see in a movie, Vin Diesel or Mark Sinclair?

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read Kevin Hart’s autobiography and one takeaway from the book was that famous comedians or famous people don’t use pseudo/nicknames but just use his/her own name. Kevin Hart was known as Lil’ Kev the Bastard until one of his early mentor told him to drop that nickname.

> Kevin Hart was known as Lil’ Kev the Bastard until one of his early mentor told him to drop that nickname. This is also just a monumentally bad name. In comedy alone, there are plenty of people with nicknames or not-their-actual name: - Louis C.K. (Louis Székely) - Jon Stewart (Jon Leibowitz) - Larry the Cable Guy (Daniel Lawrence Whitney) - Mel Brooks (Melvyn Kaminsky) - Gene Wilder (Jerome Silberman) - Tim Allen…

Come on, "Larry" is a common nickname for Lawrence, people go by their middle names all the time, and nobody thinks "The Cable Guy" is a real surname. You might as well put Cedric the Entertainer on this list.
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