Really, it’s different kinds of fear, and different tolerances for different anticipated pain. Enterpreneurs tend to have fear of mediocrity rather than fear of failure. I really disagree with the implied weights in your assymetries:
Consider the asymmetry: You can ask out 100 people, apply to 1,000 jobs, or launch 50 failed startups without any lasting harm, but each attempt carries the possibility of life-changing rewards. Yet most people do none of these things, paralyzed by phantom risks.
Not universal at all. For some, getting rejected by 2 is crippling. I could barely apply to 20 jobs over 6 months when I got laid off a few years ago (I’m a very senior IC, and applying is not “send a resume”, it’s “learn about the company, find a referral or 2nd degree contacts, get lunch with senior executives, sell myself). I’ve launched only 3 startups, one of which did “eh, OK” and the others drained me, and I’m well aware I never want to do any of that ever again.
If you say, “get tough, so it doesn’t hurt as much to fail”, I kind of agree, but also that’s way easier said than done. I fully disagree that it’s only about fear, and fully disagree that this advice applies to a very large percentage of even the fairly well-educated and capable membership of LessWrong.
Really, it’s different kinds of fear, and different tolerances for different anticipated pain. Enterpreneurs tend to have fear of mediocrity rather than fear of failure. I really disagree with the implied weights in your assymetries:
Not universal at all. For some, getting rejected by 2 is crippling. I could barely apply to 20 jobs over 6 months when I got laid off a few years ago (I’m a very senior IC, and applying is not “send a resume”, it’s “learn about the company, find a referral or 2nd degree contacts, get lunch with senior executives, sell myself). I’ve launched only 3 startups, one of which did “eh, OK” and the others drained me, and I’m well aware I never want to do any of that ever again.
If you say, “get tough, so it doesn’t hurt as much to fail”, I kind of agree, but also that’s way easier said than done. I fully disagree that it’s only about fear, and fully disagree that this advice applies to a very large percentage of even the fairly well-educated and capable membership of LessWrong.