I want to preface this by saying I'm not complaining or unhappy with who I am, just comparing two types of people.
I am an expert at nothing. I am 18 years old and have not accomplished much; I like to think that I am exceptionally above average, but nothing more. Sure, I have a lot of time to refine what I know and improve, but it's amazing what some have already done before even reaching 18.
There are Starcraft Grandmasters who are extremely young, Maru is just 16 years old and has played in Code S. There are little kids all over YouTube who are better at guitar or singing than I'll ever be. There are high school athletes in much better shape than I am.
Sure, I can do more pullups than an average American, I'm better at Starcraft than most of the people who ever decide to ladder, and I'm fairly skilled at bass guitar and guitar, but clearly I'm nowhere near the top of any of these. You could say I'm a jack-of-many-trades (I don't think anyone is a jack-of-ALL-trades), and I'd agree, but would I rather be someone like Maru? I'm not sure.
I wish I had something that was my thing; something I could say I'm really good at, maybe even the best at. What would it cost? How much would I have to sacrifice to be there? Quite a lot I imagine. It's just not who I am. I'm not a mathematical prodigy or the next Noam Chomsky, but can I still be someone? Can I still hold the spotlight even without mastery of anything or will I always be in the background of some other production?
Would I sacrifice everything to find out if I can be the next Terran God like Maru or a bass genius like Victor Wooten? No. I wouldn't give up Starcraft or music or my physical health to find out about any of these, but I'll always wonder.
I love who I am and I'm glad I do the things I do, but I always want to be better at everything (pessimistically worded, I'm never good enough at anything). Maybe no one is ever satisfied with their progress in anything? But I'm sure the superstars we look up to must realize their own expertise, even if they are humble. I may never understand anything like Mr. Wooten understands music and I may never be able do anything as well as Maru plays Starcraft, but I think that might be okay. I hope it is.
You've got to put in the hours to see if you can make it. The top of every class stand on mountains of mediocre people who either didn't have the talent, skill, perseverance, luck, etc.. Everyone says stuff like, "I could do it if I just tried." Right. You won't know until you actually give it your all, and it is a sacrifice.
And I feel it's better to try and fail, then to never try at all. Otherwise, you just fail be default.
There's a reason the expression is, "Jack of all trades, master of none". Most people leave the latter part of the phrase off to make it sound more accomplished, but the reality is still the same. If you're not unhappy, then own who you are. Just going with the term jack of many trades indicates to me that you may not be as happy as you think or are way too literal in your assessment.
As far as if you can do enough or be good enough at something to get noticed without being a master, the answer in this day and age is yes. In the age of social media, 24 hour news cycles, and a generation of kids raised on reality tv and instant celebrity, talent will sustain your ability to be noticed, but it doesn't require the talent to get noticed in the first place.
On July 16 2014 08:40 ThomasjServo wrote: They say it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at just about anything. No time to start like 18.
just because it's an awesome video:
He does a fair bit on the whole 10k hours thing, and it's definitely true that it takes a huge dedication to master things, but you can still do a lot with so much less investment. And I think it's really interesting to ask: is it better to be perfect in 1 thing, or good in 500?
I feel you bro. I notice this thing when I watch football matches and the commentators go like 'it's a 1994 boy' and I'm like 'dude I'm from 1989 and sitting on my couch while that guy is playing the world cup'. Nonetheless I'm pretty good at many things - philosophy, guitar, singing, drums...but still haven't got that 'I'm unique' feel. Keep going!!!!
On July 16 2014 17:04 ninazerg wrote: I am already the best at everything, hands down, so I don't even try anymore.
On July 16 2014 17:04 ninazerg wrote: I am already the best at everything, hands down, so I don't even try anymore.
Haha you're so funny Nina. At least until snorlax says otherwise.
HOLY FUCK. Listening to the ted talk. 10,000 hours is a lot of time. To put this into perspective there is not a single account in league of legends where a person has played for 10,000 hours. None. The game's not been out long enough unless that person played it as a full time job since beta. Think of how good these people are. How good fucking all the SC2 pros like Maru are. They don't meet the expert rule of 10,000 hours. http://wastedonlol.com/na-obesechicken13/
Why the fuck do people keep using that number? It just makes us feel bad that we haven't accomplished that many hours. You need to spend time to get good at something but 10,000 hours is a lifetime for a hobby. Piece of shit social scientists. I feel pretty good about how I played certain games and I only have 750 hours. Guess I suck. Listening to the rest of the ted talk. I guess it wasn't the researchers' fault. The ted talk speaker makes the same mistake of trying to assign a number to how long it takes to get good at something though. That's a quantitative answer to a qualitative query whose answer depends on the person and the task.
10,000 hours is supposed to be a guideline, not a hard and fast rule. The idea was popularised by Malcolm Gladwell, and is based on studies that found that a lot of people who are really successful in their fields had the opportunity to put in really long hours at a relatively young age.
Obviously there are exceptions, and obviously there are other limitations which stop people from achieving mastery. Also, not everyone needs to master everything, there are plenty of people who are happy being above average or "really good" in whatever they choose to do.
On July 16 2014 16:58 Gowerly wrote: I'd go with both. Know something about everything and everything about something.
Wow. This. Yeah man I totally feel this. I think this is actually my goal, like what I was trying to figure out. I guess I don't have to choose all or nothing but instead both. Such a simple answer but it's provided a lot of insight Thanks a lot! I guess the new question is, what DO I want to master?
I'm surprised that no one in these comments reflected on the idea that, perhaps, being good at something isn't the most important thing in life.
You're 18 years old, and you're in an amazing time in your life where you're maturing to an age of freedom and personal growth. I strongly believe that you should change your mentality from being good at something to being good at people.
The most important, and long lasting "things" in life are relationships. I believe that our society promotes a very imbalanced (and dangerous) idea that we all need to be special - hence your longing to be like Maru. What really makes you special is that you're the only you. The only you can be good any many things, you could even be the master of 1 thing over every other human on the earth... but still that would not hold as much value as YOU do. Eventually another human would come along and take your spot as the master of that thing, but they can never take your spot as YOU.
Therefore, the best and most important thing you can offer the world, others and yourself is simply YOU.
Have you attended many funerals? Have you talked to a lot of parents who are expecting a child? In both cases. people do not talk about what their kid or what the deceased person were good at - yeah this might be speculated or reminisced about, but it's not the primary topic. They often speak primarily about the persons character and qualities that were intrinsic to their person hood.
Furthermore, your friends will cherish you because what you offer them, because you are unique even in a crowd of faces. One day a woman (or a man) will fall in love with you because you are unique and they will love you for simply that.
I'm 29 years old, and I'd say I am good at a lot of things in my life and hobbies, but the one thing I am always trying to do is simply offer myself to my family, friends and community - and lastly myself. If I can give you any advice it would be to find value simply in yourself and learn how to share your true self with people around you. Yes, our activities are worth valuing and it is good to be an expert or gain expertise, but this should come secondary to relationships.
EPT
