Steve Wozniak, Courage, and Confidence - Page 2

On January 23 2013 13:12 actionbastrd wrote:
I see what you are saying, and i think it rings true. But at the same time only if you assume the person who is lounging, living a poorer but happier life because he is acting on his own interests, rather than specifically setting themselves up to just make a bunch of money and falling into social pressure, has the money to do so.

Another way to put it is, if someone is poor, working a job they hate because they are not getting anything else, and spends their time lounging, spending what little money they have.... well, i am sure some people on this forum have had a job, full time, where 5 days a week they wake up and are not happy about what their day holds. I also feel it is like that for many people.

On January 23 2013 14:32 thedeadhaji wrote:


I'm reminded of Intrigue (of this forum) who's public told us that he's never been happier in his life than his current poor, semi-unemployed, but "doing what I love" (music) and hanging out with people I like, lifestyle.

On January 23 2013 14:50 thedeadhaji wrote:
By the way, I should have been more explicit about the fact that many times, a preoccupation with "keeping up with the Joneses", and living by everyone else's standards distracts us from making career and life choices that deep down, we know will help us lead a happier, more fulfilling, more satisfying life. It's not "always" the case, but there are a lot of factors in our society that pull is this way and that, inhibiting us from following that one path that (if we are so lucky) we know we want to take.

On January 23 2013 02:17 thedeadhaji wrote:


So much of our world is driven by money; by power; by trophies of metal and paper. Many of even the brightest and strongest of our peers seem blinded by the gleaming glamour of these tokens of accomplishment, unable to shake themselves away from the grip of greed. At times it even appears that the more capable a person is, the more these trophies enter her reach, and the more inescapable the pursuit becomes.

In such a world, it takes immense courage to defy the standard barometers of society. As creatures, we are evolutionarily predisposed to one upping the Joneses. Our chemical feedback loops grind against our capacity for reason, making sure that any deviation from this race is temporary. Even when we both instinctively and rationally know that this competitive, over-optimizing, and overachieving behavior runs counter to our overall happiness, we find it immensely difficult to "forfeight" the match.

In fact the most potent recipe is a person with great ability but without a corresponding strength of purpose and passion. With the way we promote competition and adherence to a standard curriculum for the best of our youth today, it is small wonder that our postsecondary academic pursuits and subsequent professional "aspirations" become dominated by the influences of our particular institution of attendance (how many of us actually considered the dominant industries that recruit at our college of choice when applying?). If a student attends Stanford, chances are she will study engineering and enter the tech sector. If a student attends Princeton, odds are that she will study economics and enter the finance industry. If we are accustomed to following our immediate surroundings' norms for academic and professional choices and priorities, then our long-term motives will naturally be defined by those of our peers as well.

It is only those with immense confidence in their desires, objectives, and self-worth, that can rebuff society's edicts for "what (supposedly) matters most". I have immense respect and admiration for those whose lives are an embodiment of their passions and interests -- those who radiate a unique aura of conviction and purpose with every word they speak and every step (both literally and figuratively) they take. They are, simply, rare.

But to those rare souls with the inner strength and conviction to defy the world's dogma: you are an inspiration.



Crosspost: http://www.hkmurakami.com/blog/

On January 23 2013 13:43 sam!zdat wrote:
haha sorry lucky fool that was totally sarcastic

You're absolutely right, the Good Life has nothing to do with material wealth. Tune in, turn on, drop out

On January 23 2013 04:09 opisska wrote:
I also see some inconsistency between the qoute and the blog. From these two, I relate myself much more to the qoute. I really wouldn't say that I radiate inner strength or whatever, but I do, as a matter of fact, live a very happy life.

How do I do that? The first and main reason is obviously that 10 years ago I got incredibly lucky have found a girl, who later became my wife and shares, for a large part, my view on the world and how our life should be. That is one thing that really has to be said first, because that has greatly contributed to my freedom - not having to act stupidly in trying to "attract" someone frees a guy a lot and it would be hypocritical to desrcibe my life without saying that. Also an important observation is that neither do I or does my wife want to have children and not having a responsibility for anyone clears one's hands a lot too.

The main concept that I have developed in my life is a complete lack of goals related to career, wealth or acheivements. The only thing I wish is to enjoy myself and for me and my wife to be happy. A focal point in pursuit of this is the realisation that we don't really need that much money to achieve that. Actually, I find it hard to comprehend, how much money other people seem to need, while apparently "generating" much less happiness than we do. What do you need a big house for? Or an expensive car? (That is one point that completely eludes me, when my car that I bought for $1000 can reliably transport me 6000 km around Europe in one week, what makes other people by cars for 20 times the price?) But still, there are so many people around me that seem smart and everything, yet they have somehow created these absolutely irrational mindblocks about "needing" some absolutely useless stuff for their lives.

So I work nominally 20 hours a week (in reality, I come and go as I wish, I only to show a result or two once in a while) as a very slow (already in 5th year) PhD student in physics (and I have taken a firm resolution that I am never going to accept a fulltime job unless the job itself is so excting that it is something I would like to to the whole day anyway) , live in a school dormitory (quite an unusal sight at my age of 30) and spend most of the time doing whatever I want at the moment. And I am the happiest I have ever been in my life.

On January 24 2013 16:02 haduken wrote:
they would want ipods, playstations and all those other material things that you no doubt look down upon.

On January 24 2013 16:07 sam!zdat wrote:


So tell 'em no. It'll be good for them. A lot of consumerist bullshit is driven by parents not being willing to own up to the fact that they buy a bunch of useless shit for their kids that's actively bad for them in the first place.