The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
fermatslibrary.com
The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
1–10 of 21 posts
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#2> He was right, of course. What these athletes do was rather interesting, but the people themselves were only fast swimmers, who did the particular things one does to swim fast. It is all very mundane. When my friend said that they weren't exciting, my best answer could only be, simply put: That's the point.
This article (and its conclusions) reminded me a lot of the stuff David Foster Wallace wrote about the world of professional tennis. Wallace portrayed the life of a professional athlete as a kind of modern monasticism. From his Esquire article "The String Theory" (2008):
> Note the way "up close and personal" profiles of professional athletes strain so hard to find evidence of a rounded human life–outside interests and activities, values beyond the sport. We ignore what's obvious, that most of this straining is farce. It's farce because the realities of top-level athletics today require an early and total commitment to one area of excellence. An ascetic focus. A subsumption of almost all other features of human life to one chosen talent and pursuit [...]
> Sex and substance issues notwithstanding, professional athletes are our culture's holy men: They give themselves over to a pursuit, endure great privation and pain to actualize themselves at it, and enjoy a relationship to 'excellence' and 'perfection' that we admire and reward (the monk's begging bowl, the RBI guru's eight-figure contract) and like to watch, even though we have no inclination to walk that road ourselves. In other words, they do it for us, sacrifice themselves for our redemption.
Point being, the life of a professional athlete in the making is (mostly) not glamorous or exciting, but rather a very narrow existence comprised of pure persistence and dedication to a small set of very specific movements and activities, repeated over and over.
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#3> He was right, of course. What these athletes do was rather interesting, but the people themselves were only fast swimmers, who did the particular things one does to swim fast. It is all very mundane. When my friend said that they weren't exciting, my best answer could only be, simply put: That's the point. This article (and its conclusions) reminded me a lot of the stuff David Foster Wallace wrote about the world o…
"Point being, the life of a professional athlete in the making is (mostly) not glamorous or exciting, but rather a very narrow existence comprised of pure persistence and dedication to a small set of very specific movements and activities, repeated over and over."
Same as most professionals. But more reward. More risk. More need for innate qualities.
"...like to watch, even though we have no inclination to walk that road ourselves. In other words, they do it for us, sacrifice themselves for our redemption."
They "sacrifice" for fame and a comfortable lifestyle, just like everyone else.
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#4Lots of witty quotes in this article, such as:
... the true tests (such as the dissertation requirement) in graduate school are really designed to discover whether at some point one is willing to just turn the damn thing in.
The willingness to do hard, mundane work may be the most under-rated quality in all of modern life.
I think too little is made of the how the Internet and its various forms of instant entertainment make it all too easy to sidestep the mundane nature of most valuable work. It's worth considering the many long-term consequences.
Speaking of which, it's time to get back to work.
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#5> He was right, of course. What these athletes do was rather interesting, but the people themselves were only fast swimmers, who did the particular things one does to swim fast. It is all very mundane. When my friend said that they weren't exciting, my best answer could only be, simply put: That's the point. This article (and its conclusions) reminded me a lot of the stuff David Foster Wallace wrote about the world o…
"Point being, the life of a professional athlete in the making is (mostly) not glamorous or exciting, but rather a very narrow existence comprised of pure persistence and dedication to a small set of very specific movements and activities, repeated over and over." Same as most professionals. But more reward. More risk. More need for innate qualities. "...like to watch, even though we have no inclination to walk that…
I you do it for fame you are at a disadvantage the first 15 years.
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#6> He was right, of course. What these athletes do was rather interesting, but the people themselves were only fast swimmers, who did the particular things one does to swim fast. It is all very mundane. When my friend said that they weren't exciting, my best answer could only be, simply put: That's the point. This article (and its conclusions) reminded me a lot of the stuff David Foster Wallace wrote about the world o…
"Point being, the life of a professional athlete in the making is (mostly) not glamorous or exciting, but rather a very narrow existence comprised of pure persistence and dedication to a small set of very specific movements and activities, repeated over and over." Same as most professionals. But more reward. More risk. More need for innate qualities. "...like to watch, even though we have no inclination to walk that…
> They "sacrifice" for fame and a comfortable lifestyle, just like everyone else.
There are those who stop sacrificing once they attain fame and a comfortable lifestyle. But what of those who attain the fame and comfortable lifestyle but continue to sacrifice themselves?
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#7> He was right, of course. What these athletes do was rather interesting, but the people themselves were only fast swimmers, who did the particular things one does to swim fast. It is all very mundane. When my friend said that they weren't exciting, my best answer could only be, simply put: That's the point. This article (and its conclusions) reminded me a lot of the stuff David Foster Wallace wrote about the world o…
When Arthur Ashe died, a sportswriter told of years before talking with Ashe near some courts. Another prominent American player was practicing his serve, working his way through a shopping cart full of tennis balls. Ashe said, roughly,
That guy doesn't know who the president of the United States is. He may not know how many planets there are. I can't live like that.
Obviously a lot can live like that. It is hard to blame those who do, but there is a reason that athletes like Ashe are remembered so fondly.
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#8Lots of witty quotes in this article, such as: ... the true tests (such as the dissertation requirement) in graduate school are really designed to discover whether at some point one is willing to just turn the damn thing in. The willingness to do hard, mundane work may be the most under-rated quality in all of modern life. I think too little is made of the how the Internet and its various forms of instant entertainme…
I don't think this is underrated at all. Primary and secondary education is largely intended to train people to sit still doing mundane work all day IMO.
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Point being, the life of a professional athlete in the making is (mostly) not glamorous or exciting, but rather a very narrow existence comprised of pure persistence and dedication to a small set of very specific movements and activities, repeated over and over." Same as most professionals. But more reward. More risk. More need for innate qualities. "...like to watch, even though we have no inclination to walk that…
> They "sacrifice" for fame and a comfortable lifestyle, just like everyone else. There are those who stop sacrificing once they attain fame and a comfortable lifestyle. But what of those who attain the fame and comfortable lifestyle but continue to sacrifice themselves?
Those are called Michael Jordan or Bill Gates. They keep the intensity up even after great success.
Re: The Mundanity of Excellence (1989)
#10> He was right, of course. What these athletes do was rather interesting, but the people themselves were only fast swimmers, who did the particular things one does to swim fast. It is all very mundane. When my friend said that they weren't exciting, my best answer could only be, simply put: That's the point. This article (and its conclusions) reminded me a lot of the stuff David Foster Wallace wrote about the world o…
When Arthur Ashe died, a sportswriter told of years before talking with Ashe near some courts. Another prominent American player was practicing his serve, working his way through a shopping cart full of tennis balls. Ashe said, roughly, That guy doesn't know who the president of the United States is. He may not know how many planets there are. I can't live like that. Obviously a lot can live like that. It is hard to…
Thank you for telling that story. I had never heard of AA and just read his wikipedia page. What an impressive man.