the mathematics of persistence

I agree with you philosophically (despite that the post cites something that is old news) but still one must be a little skeptical.
American media/propaganda loves to tout the opportunities and hard work but filled with examples of idiot sons inheriting huge sums and end up ruining the family business.
Further - Corporate America is filled with corruption, dirty politics and back-stabbing and ass-kissing. It must be true as ET the living proof of wanna-be traders who loath working for a corporation. I have done it for 20 years or so myself.
As a European I find healthy skepticism GOOD and critical thinking a must have. I am amazed of the myriad of self-help and positive thinking mumbo-jumbo still creates such a messed up society like the USA.
Quote from darkhorse:

When assessing an idea / essay / observation, there are at least two motives one can bring to the table.

1) A desire to discredit, i.e. what flaws can I find in this observation. How can I show it to be wrong (or 'dumb').

2) A desire to profit, i.e. what intellectual / emotional / personal gain can I take from this observation, regardless of its flaws.

The first motive is costly over the long run. In seeking to habitually discredit rather than seek benefit, one invariably misses out on profitable insights. Useful connections will often appear one-sided in their presentation; when a connection comes to light, most of the time it only illuminates one specific corner of the bigger picture. Thus no matter how thought provoking an observation is, a motivated discreditor can always find a way to nitpick and say "Well that's clearly stupid / wrong / valueless because you left out X or forget to address Y or glossed over Z," etc.

In contrast, the second motive is hugely profitable over the long run. By seeking to extract value whenever and wherever possible, regardless of how flawed or marred the source, one is able to gain insight from some pretty surprising places.

A fool cannot learn much from a wise man, but a wise man can learn much from a fool. Even the most painful and pointless exchange can sometimes bear fruit if one knows how to harvest it... at the very least the lesson of 'choosing one's battles' is a good one to reinforce... and there are many off-topic lessons worthy of examination, such as those that speak to communication and psychology and the general human condition.

The value-extracting mindset has another hidden benefit: personal satisfaction. I am often tempted to say 'thank you' to those who seek harm, for whatever reason, but actually wind up making me wiser / smarter / stronger instead.

cheers
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Quote from andrasnm:

This is a very dumb notion. You discount/ignore family money. Given Education (some parents actually pay for their kid's Harvard MBA) and family connections.
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Perhaps it is for those who take privilege for granted and plan on coasting through life on the coattails of others. For the rest of us, there are some useful nuggets worth chewing on.
 
Quote from andrasnm:

I agree with you philosophically (despite that the post cites something that is old news) but still one must be a little skeptical.
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Skepticism certainly has its place, especially here at ET. But why would you propose to be skeptical about an effort to become more perceptive and persistent? Are you suggesting the opposite? From a practical standpoint what, exactly, is your point in the context of this thread?
 
Quote from andrasnm:


As a European I find healthy skepticism GOOD and critical thinking a must have. I am amazed of the myriad of self-help and positive thinking mumbo-jumbo still creates such a messed up society like the USA.
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Quite true, no disagreement there. (Not sure how the European part fits in though.)

Skepticism and open-mindedness are equally valuable yet frequently opposed character traits -- the trick is in finding the right mix.

That old hidden path again.
 
Quote from andrasnm:


I am amazed of the myriad of self-help and positive thinking mumbo-jumbo still creates such a messed up society like the USA.
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Actually, let me amend that agreement. I read the first sentence and missed the anti-USA gist of the second, which helps explain your 'European' qualifier.

While true that self-help mumbo-jumbo appears to influence Americans more than Europeans, it may be due to a regrettable lack of optimism in Europe, rather than a surfeit of naivete in the states.

As far as the natives go, Americans certainly don't have a lock on foolish notions. When I was studying in England, I came across a poll suggesting half of all UK pet owners believe their cat or dog to possess intelligence on par with humans. My landlady, wonderful as she was, would have probably fit in with that group. Not exactly a shining testament to critical thinking, ey wot? Nor could one accuse the French or the Germans of being overly logical and clear-headed when it comes to cultural and economic issues...

Better to be a lofty dreamer than a dour bitter-ender? The point is certainly up for debate -- on a different thread.
 
Quote from andrasnm:

This is a very dumb notion. You discount/ignore family money. Given Education (some parents actually pay for their kid's Harvard MBA) and family connections.
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Quote from andrasnm:


American media/propaganda loves to tout the opportunities and hard work but filled with examples of idiot sons inheriting huge sums and end up ruining the family business.
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When "family money" gets to be so large that it can pay for a Harvard MBA it usually correlates with decades of persistence when it comes to: cutting losses, riding and compounding gains, managing risk, and not fighting the trend.
As far as kids inheriting huge sums of money after their parents death and blowing it all away essentially ending a decades long trend of compounding wealth: if your a wealthy parent I think this problem can be avoided if you not wait till death to give your money away and just hope for the best. A better approach is to give your kids a little of your money and show them how to protect and compound it like you do. The less they 'get it' the less you give and the more they get it the more you give. This way by the time you finally do pass you do so with the confidence that your children know how to protect and compound wealth as you do. Besides you have one life to live so why wait till after you die and after its all over to give everything away, its not like you can take anything with you so why hold on to it all till the very end.
 
Quote from darkhorse:


(1)You'll need a dozen years to build up your first $5000—that's quite a while—but you'll need only six additional years to accumulate your next $5000. You'll have your third $5000 in another four years, and your fourth $5000 in just three more. In the early stages of compounding, gains are meager. Significant gains don't occur until later. But once they appear, they start to snowball.

(2)There is no persistence without discipline. But self-coercion is fools' discipline. A devitalizing force at heart, it will eventually burn you out. Far better are the attractive forces of love, desire, and fascination. These are rejuvenating; their objects, energizing. The wise recognize this and harness them to travel to the City of Good Luck.
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(1) Not many people are willing to wait a dozen years to make their first 5k (or even their first 50k, 100k, or 1,000k). People who are willing to wait tend to be very patient and seem to have a different sense of time (an almost eternal sense of time - the time is always now).

(2) I think if you think discipline is a problem then maybe its symptomatic of much bigger problems like: lack of patience (warped sense of time), lack of confidence/faith in your methods, lack of energy/love/desire/understanding/whatever. I doubt success can be achieved through self-coercion path of discipline.
 
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