Maybe the difference there is that you’ve started on the right foot in life. The very first tries, you gave it your all, and succeeded enough to see that more could be achieved, and so went spiraling on, upwards. For some people, the contrary may hold true. In their case, it may make sense to negate further blows to their ego and self confidence, because they’re already hurt and weakened. You, on the other hand, are on the move, and have been acquiring a lot of momentum along the way.
So people who didn’t start well, maybe need to pause, and restart, slowly but surely, building up their own momentum, doing it right this time, and forgetting as fast and thoroughly about their past failures as they can.
On another point, sometimes it may make sense to decentralize some of your tasks on other people, who are better able to do them for you. Not too much, since otherwise you may end up not doing anything by yourself anymore, but not too little, or else, you end up doing too much by yourself, including tasks that you aren’t good at, tasks for which you must invest a lot more mental energy than someone else would. In that case, it makes sense to trade your help, in a domain where you can efficiently, effortlessly use your energy, for the help of someone else in a domain where they are efficient and you not.
For some people, the contrary may hold true. In their case, it may make sense to negate further blows to their ego and self confidence, because they’re already hurt and weakened. (...) So people who didn’t start well, maybe need to pause, and restart, slowly but surely, building up their own momentum, doing it right this time, and forgetting as fast and thoroughly about their past failures as they can.
And the critical point here, that I’m not sure Eliezer realizes, is that you are probably describing the majority of people.
So people who didn’t start well, maybe need to pause, and restart, slowly but surely, building up their own momentum, doing it right this time, and forgetting as fast and thoroughly about their past failures as they can.
Yes. One of the most important things to teach people is that they can actually succeed at something—anything.
Examples:
a friend who teaches music to poor kids at a sink school. He shows up with a mohawk and teaches them how to make good noise. The light in their eyes is so rewarding he puts up with the stifling bureaucracy.
student newspapers, which to a large extent exist to be written rather than to be read.
sports clubs for kids, even.
Teaching people what success feels like is really important. Really, really important.
Maybe the difference there is that you’ve started on the right foot in life. The very first tries, you gave it your all, and succeeded enough to see that more could be achieved, and so went spiraling on, upwards. For some people, the contrary may hold true. In their case, it may make sense to negate further blows to their ego and self confidence, because they’re already hurt and weakened. You, on the other hand, are on the move, and have been acquiring a lot of momentum along the way.
So people who didn’t start well, maybe need to pause, and restart, slowly but surely, building up their own momentum, doing it right this time, and forgetting as fast and thoroughly about their past failures as they can.
On another point, sometimes it may make sense to decentralize some of your tasks on other people, who are better able to do them for you. Not too much, since otherwise you may end up not doing anything by yourself anymore, but not too little, or else, you end up doing too much by yourself, including tasks that you aren’t good at, tasks for which you must invest a lot more mental energy than someone else would. In that case, it makes sense to trade your help, in a domain where you can efficiently, effortlessly use your energy, for the help of someone else in a domain where they are efficient and you not.
And the critical point here, that I’m not sure Eliezer realizes, is that you are probably describing the majority of people.
Yes. One of the most important things to teach people is that they can actually succeed at something—anything.
Examples:
a friend who teaches music to poor kids at a sink school. He shows up with a mohawk and teaches them how to make good noise. The light in their eyes is so rewarding he puts up with the stifling bureaucracy.
student newspapers, which to a large extent exist to be written rather than to be read.
sports clubs for kids, even.
Teaching people what success feels like is really important. Really, really important.