Forum Post: your position in society is purely a matter of dumb luck
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 8:49 a.m. EST by buik
(380)
from Towson, MD
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
people say things like "if you work hard you will succeed" but its not really that simple. that is a very misleading statement and most people dont even realize how dishonest they are being when they say it.
work ethic, along with all positive and negative attributes, like memory, ability to reason, ability to make informed generalizations, addiction, sexual orientation, etc. is simply a matter of experience and genetics. everything, in actuality, all of your behavior, is dependent purely on these two things. your "free will" is anything but free will. everything is genetics and environment.
if you are born poor and have a good memory, a high iq, good work ethic, etc., these things are important but there are millions and millions of people with these attributes who remain poor, in financial slavery, for the rest of their lives.
the most honest people you will meet in life are the people who realize that their financial solvency, ethics and morals, anything and everything, is just a matter of dumb luck. nobody "deserves" anything. its just a extremely complex system with trillions of variables.
people say, "oh hitler was evil" but i have news for you- were you born with hitler's exact genetic makeup and had hitler's exact experiences, you would do the same things. theres absolutely no such thing as free will. free will is something the masters tell you that you have, so you will work harder : )
another way of saying this is that the american dream is one big lie - the more people who believe it, the more who will keep there heads down & their mouths shut. if you havent heard of tocamu.com - about improving our wellbeing instead of just chasing $, might be worth a look. cool symbol there too, a sorta 2011 peace sign for people who care about each other!
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11
the thing about the bible is that sometimes if you take things out of context they really speak to you. like life i guess...
If anybody believes this shit please place your head in the toilet and start flushing as quickly as you can.
We create our own reality! The minute you begin to doubt this assertion is the minute that others will have you enslaved.
you're living a lie. you did not choose to type that. your genetics and experience dictated it. as do mine, as i type.
i have no choice but to love you, even as you discredit me. i dont give myself any credit for this, nor for seeing the world more accurately than you, nor for being (obviously) happier and more at peace with myself than you
i owe it all to experience and genetics : )
The only thing you are more of than me is bullshit. Humans are not robots as you would have others believe. Maybe you are tied to this crap, but as for me...I chose to exist, ergo I create my own reality.
Wow. Just where do to have to have your head stuck to actually think like this? Yeah, if you're a lazy bum then anything that happens to you is just what happens, good or bad. But if you are just the slightest amount interested in your own future just a little thought and planning will show you a multitude of options.
I could list example after example but I'll boil it down to just one. I was brought up in a military family. Taught to shoot rifles and extremely proficient by 10 years old. I was around Special Forces officers and enlisted men my whole life. They taught me many things. For fun i read military manuals about a great many things. I had a full ROTC scholarship to college which I earned through academics and physical prowess. I was a first year cadet fulfilling a fourth year cadets role as an officer by the end of the first semester. I was more skilled and knowledgeable than some active service men. I was destined to fulfill a role in the Army Special Forces. That would have been your "dumb luck". But, my third year of college an "out" appeared on my contract and I thought long and hard about it. I chose a different path for myself, and became a dentist. Now I serve the underprivileged youth of our nation. Not dumb luck. Smart planning. But. I imagine this is mostly a trollish post anyway. I took the time to respond, not for the poster, but for any of the masses that might try to nod in agreement reading that drivel.
you're right.
why are some people born fast? why are some born smart? why are some born extroverted and some introverted? why are some born with the remarkable gifts of music?
i do not at all believe that a lot of hard work can get you there, contrary to malcolm gladwell's assertion. let's face it, even if you get your kid to play golf 5 hours a day every day he may not ever become the next tiger woods or jack nicklaus. millions of families in china force their children to learn the piano or the violin from a young age, yet the world is not inundated with chinese musical 'prodigies' who have lasting careers
and of course, why are some born in the right place at the right time?
So you want everything for nothing. You are a Bum and want to sit around playing games and get payed to do it. This is why America is going from the Greatest to not so good. You want the government to pay you to do nothing or play games all day. You can live on the street as far as I care. I don't have much myself and you are not getting what I worked for. I don't have the money to pay all of my bills this month Please send what I need.
Ed
Please excuse me and my free will, I have DECIDED that I'm going to buy some stock today and make a good return here in the next few days. Having made other DECISIONS in the past has also allowed me to obtain a decent net worth and some financial security.
If you make decisions, you have free will.
you have no choice but to see it that way. i got no problem with that. heres hoping you find some kind of fulfillment in your actions...
Oh it is a choice. I know because I know people who choose otherwise. If you're looking at all the evidence and specifically decide to choose the wrong one, that's on you.
People that use genetics are just weak cop outs. I think it's about time you grew up and became a man who answered for his own decisions, both good and bad.
lol. well i hope it makes you happy. nice job in being so much better than everyone else : )
There are always going to be people both better and worse than me in this world. I have no delusions that everyone is "equal". There will be some smarter than me, dumber than me, prettier than me, uglier than me (although I might hold the #1 spot for ruthless)
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Damn! I just worked so hard in the last two years writing my first novel and it's all because of dump luck. I'm just going to thrash that book. What's the point of living. Rope or gun? Kitchen or lounge?
the point of living is
1) to be happy, and 2) to see what happens next
I like the Buddhist philosophy better.
The point of living is 1) to learn something, and 2) to use what you have learned for the betterment of your fellow man
Too many people just want to be happy and have fun. Stepping back and looking at all of mankind hurts their little brains too much. Just living for today is something I've grown to slightly abhor.
as long as you dont give yourself any credit for seeing it like that, works for me. now, my greatest happiness comes from helping others, but that was never my choice. just got lucky : ). more, it is important that i hear your opinion at this time, and filter it through my genetics and experience, as i do everything else.
I've always been one more inclined to help others learn how to help themselves. I'm OK with feeding you once, but I'd rather teach you how to plant a garden so to speak. Much easier said than done however.
An anti-hedonist. Well, well. I won't be inviting you to my lavish orgies.
lol, i like this reply Thras
now, what gives me happiness, thats just dumb luck. i happen to feel happiest when helping others; thats not to my credit, its just a function of how my genetic makeup interacts with my experiences. i'm pretty lucky to have had this combo, in my opinion, but its just luck man. when you realize this (when someone tells you this in the correct way that it clicks with your prior experiences and genetic makeup), life opens up.
be happy, and live to see what happens next. thats all there is to it
sounds like you're just dumb
everything is experience and genetics. sorry you cannot see it that way at this point in time.
sorry you had no choice but to read that, hoss : )
Thomas Edison: genius is 1% inspiration, 99% percent perspiration.
buik: it's all luck man.. (takes another bong hit)
But I don't have any free will. I'm just an observer. I just don't see the point anymore.
the point is to see what happens next, and to make yourself happy in light of hat you know know to be true : )
not that i make it a habit of repeating myself, but i take mercy on you. i have no other choice
I can't make myself happy because I don't have free will. I learned that from you. Now I'm depressed like a rubber balloon with a puncture.