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Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

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Re: Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

#21

Post by onion2k »

dmos62 wrote: post #15
onion2k wrote: post #2

Many, many more people work at things other people think are silly and insignificant only to discover that thing is silly and insignificant and then they give up. Occasionally the opposite happens and the person succeeds. If you only look at the successes it probably looks like a willingness to be low-status is a marker for success, but it really isn't. It tells you nothing of the future outcome. The only thing it pr…

I agree, but being willing to be [insert whatever] can be indicative of a more general flexibility, which is an important trait to have. Probably not what the author of the quote meant, though.

The opposite hypothesis, about someone unwilling to work in a low-status role, is almost certainly a strong indicator of future failure in startups. Every founder I know has tales of having to do the crappy jobs that had to be done in order to make the business succeed.

Re: Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

#22

Post by spacemanmatt »

purple-again wrote: post #11
onion2k wrote: post #2

Many, many more people work at things other people think are silly and insignificant only to discover that thing is silly and insignificant and then they give up. Occasionally the opposite happens and the person succeeds. If you only look at the successes it probably looks like a willingness to be low-status is a marker for success, but it really isn't. It tells you nothing of the future outcome. The only thing it pr…

I love perpetual motion machines. Absolutely fascinated by them. I am quick to dump on flat earthers and antivaxxers and understand the science against perpetual motion just as well. That said, given a strong UBI or a grant of a billion dollars I would GLEEFULLY spend the rest of my life working on trying to build a perpetual motion machine. Sometimes we just have to remember that if we are honest with ourselves we a…

No one I know who could qualify for a UBI has any desire to spend their life on a lark. They all experience an urgency that seems like it would be foreign to you.

Re: Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

#24

Post by im3w1l »

roenxi wrote: post #7

The more-correct observation is that any well-understood or easy path to becoming high status will be shut down. Most people are not high status, and want to be. It follows that the path has to be either risky, or difficult to comprehend. If hard work were enough, we'd all be in charge. Lots of hard workers out there.

> the path has to be either risky, or difficult to comprehend.

Or require being born with a rare gift or trait.

Re: Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

#26

Post by alextheparrot »

msandford wrote: post #5
onion2k wrote: post #2

Many, many more people work at things other people think are silly and insignificant only to discover that thing is silly and insignificant and then they give up. Occasionally the opposite happens and the person succeeds. If you only look at the successes it probably looks like a willingness to be low-status is a marker for success, but it really isn't. It tells you nothing of the future outcome. The only thing it pr…

It's probably necessary but not sufficient. If you can't deal with being low status you won't get through the grind and the suck. But there are a million grinds that don't go anywhere. Look at what it takes to level up a character.

The necessary condition seems to be invalidated by the “family-tradition” narrative where someone goes directly from son of a 4* general to becoming a 2* general as long as they don’t mess up too badly. For them, their default amount of status can lead to success as long as they don’t put too many chips on the wrong games.

I’m not actually sure how true that is in practice, but the stickiness of income bracket and legacy enrollment in universities seems to give some credence to this type of construction.

Re: Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

#27

Post by tokai »

spacemanmatt wrote: post #22
purple-again wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love perpetual motion machines. Absolutely fascinated by them. I am quick to dump on flat earthers and antivaxxers and understand the science against perpetual motion just as well. That said, given a strong UBI or a grant of a billion dollars I would GLEEFULLY spend the rest of my life working on trying to build a perpetual motion machine. Sometimes we just have to remember that if we are honest with ourselves we a…

No one I know who could qualify for a UBI has any desire to spend their life on a lark. They all experience an urgency that seems like it would be foreign to you.

>No one I know who could qualify for a UBI

You know the U is for universal right?

Re: Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

#28

Post by fredley »

I know people blocked by this. Usually they're people who had an easy time at expensive schools, they now can't accept that they're anything other than brilliant and deserve the top jobs based on their raw 'talent' alone. Those who can work their way up from the unglamorous positions at the bottom are the ones doing well, and often leapfrog those with an easier starting position due to it.

Re: Underrated predictor of success: willingness to be low-status

#30

Post by jmnicolas »

bluedays wrote: post #8

Yeah, 33 years old, haven't accomplished much, went into school to start a degree in programming, still low status and can't find a job anywhere. I'm not sure willingness is the word for this. All I feel is bitterness. I'm not sure if this is me being reflective because it's my birthday today or what, but I'm so fucking sick of working so hard to get nowhere.

Happy birthday! I hope you will find a job soon.
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