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Being OK with not being extraordinary

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Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#201

Post by taylorlunt »

dominotw wrote: post #197
wjossey wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my career so far in a nutshell. I’m an average programmer. I’m an excellent problem solver. I have an above average work ethic. I’m an excellent communicator. Basically, I combined all of these traits and found roles that leveraged these traits to maximize my impact. Not for nothing, but this is why my liberal arts college was profoundly impactful for me, despite not getting a “top tier” CS education. My writ…

> I’m an excellent problem solver. Don't mean this to be a mean comment but how did you assess this? I think i am good problem solver but i don't know if i am better than anyone else.

Problem solving ability is basically just IQ.

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#202

Post by api »

There are over 7 billion people on Earth. You aren't extraordinary, so you're going to have to get used to it. If you think you are you're probably either in a small pond or not paying attention.

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#203

Post by weaksauce »

sghiassy wrote: post #177
petra wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is him being funny helpful for career advancement ?

People like working with others with whom they like. Being a smart-asshole, by contrast, is a difficult way to get ahead. Being funny is one way to be like able

an aside, being funny in this context is where everyone gets a benefit of being happier. some types of humor is denigrating to a particular group or person and that's generally not going to take you very far in a lot of fields.

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#204

Post by georgeecollins »

taylorlunt wrote: post #201
dominotw wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’m an excellent problem solver. Don't mean this to be a mean comment but how did you assess this? I think i am good problem solver but i don't know if i am better than anyone else.

Problem solving ability is basically just IQ.

If that were true, everyone with a very high IQ would be a great poker player, a great negotiator, a great writer, a great leader, a great investor.. etc.

IQ is as proxy for problem solving if the problems look like a standardized test. The problems people face in the real world require more specialization and a more complex combination of skills and traits.

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#205

Post by benn0 »

thelean12 wrote: post #65

There are lots of people reacting to the extraordinary with "inspiration", "disappointment", and "jealousy". I'd say none of these are as useful as reacting with curiosity . There's an endless amount to learn from the extraordinary in any field or sport or hobby. It's easy to write off the extraordinary as naturally talented or lucky or something else surface level. Most of the time it's anything but. I play golf. It…

This is a really great perspective. As someone who dealt with the external pressures of being 'extraordinary' at a young age, it seems to me that curiosity is one of the easiest things to lose, and hardest to bring back, when your focus is on others' expectations.

Somewhat unexpectedly, discovering some parts of Stoic philosophy has definitely helped to rediscover the joy of curiosity that can be found almost anywhere.

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#207

Post by gucciTheWizard »

georgeecollins wrote: post #204
taylorlunt wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem solving ability is basically just IQ.

If that were true, everyone with a very high IQ would be a great poker player, a great negotiator, a great writer, a great leader, a great investor.. etc. IQ is as proxy for problem solving if the problems look like a standardized test. The problems people face in the real world require more specialization and a more complex combination of skills and traits.

IQ is a general measure for pattern recognition. Most modern IQ tests are heavily dependent of things like ravens matrices.

Pattern recognition in obviously helpful when problem solving.

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#208

Post by kirse »

rvn1045 wrote: post #141
remar wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, did you train at commercial gyms or powerlifting/weightlifting gyms? What if the lifters just happened to be on high volume blocks, or tapering for a meet whenever you visited?

Yeah this is mostly at commercial gyms and there are a lot more at powerlifting/weightlifting gyms for sure. But even there there aren't as many as you would expect. It's probably more common to bench 300, but never seen anyone do a 405 lbs squat atg even at a powerlifting gym.

never seen anyone do a 405 lbs squat atg even at a powerlifting gym

Well yea, a 4-plate ATG squat is gonna be an honest rep, probably by someone pushing 465+ for a parallel squat.

I always figured you could take most men < 45 and hit 1/2/3/4-plate on OP/Bench/Squat/Dead given 2 years on a dedicated schedule w/ a simple plan like 5/3/1. Most people get in the gym for social-hour instead of hammering it hard (aka "fuck-around-itis")

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#209

Post by lowiqengineer »

SCAQTony wrote: post #111

Extraordinary is boring. If one wants to draw as good as Michelangelo Buonarroti, or play the alto sax technically as well as Charlie Parker, one has to put in the hours. Imagine only having one interest? Example: Michelangelo and Charlie practiced or executed their craft incessantly. "In an interview with Paul Desmond, Parker said that he spent three to four years practicing up to 15 hours a day." "If people knew ho…

I don’t really want to be Charlie Parker extraordinary, I just want to be Harvard CS major who makes $500k as a T5 at Google extraordinary. I assure you, that person has more diverse friendships and more leisure time than I do.

Re: Being OK with not being extraordinary

#210

Post by MaximumYComb »

georgeecollins wrote: post #204
taylorlunt wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem solving ability is basically just IQ.

If that were true, everyone with a very high IQ would be a great poker player, a great negotiator, a great writer, a great leader, a great investor.. etc. IQ is as proxy for problem solving if the problems look like a standardized test. The problems people face in the real world require more specialization and a more complex combination of skills and traits.

IQ is one of the strongest predictors we have for many life outcomes, such as career success, wealth, lower risk of death. This doesn't mean "everyone with a very high IQ will blah blah blah" but it does mean that those with high IQs are more likely to achieve certain things.
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