Link Dump 2.6
– Don’t Kill the Press Release, Shoot the Messenger
(Good look at why press releases are ineffective from PR 2.0)
–‘Stop feminising our schools – our boys are suffering’
(I wrote a 15 paper called ‘Fight Club Feminism’ that looked at the same problem)
(Intro to the neurology of consciousness and why we experience ‘vertigo’ when we ponder our existence)
(Wikipedia. ‘The Sword of Damocles is a frequently used allusion to this tale, epitomizing the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power.’)
(Wikipedia. ‘The mediocrity principle is the notion in the philosophy of science that there is nothing special about Earth, and by implication the human race.’
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.
On the second link, about the feminising of our schools:
“Once they are convinced the system is rigged, they don’t want to play.”
That’s what the article said about boys, and I agree. In high school, my average hovered around 85%. I could have done better, and I knew it, but the only difference left between where I was and that perfect 100 was a willingness to memorize and copy monotonous facts and figures from point A and write them down in point B, which was a willingness I did not have.
I’ve always been someone to recognize the system behind the game, and to be put off by it. Just one example is the insane music snob I’ve become: one of my favorite peeves are bands whose hit single is track 3 on their album, the opener being almost as good, track 2 showing you a different edge, but then blowing everything on track 3 to where the rest of the album has nothing more to offer but different sides of the same thing. Most of the time, an album putters out by track 7 or maybe 8, although some bands do themselves the honor of saving a worthwhile track for their closer. (The recent trend, however, has leaned more towards the single as track 2 with some sort of ambiguous intro as the opener; these albums, sure enough, usually die out even quicker).
This is the kind of stuff I’m talking about, and it manifests itself in almost every aspect of society. A sheer system behind the game. You want this job? Shave and put on some nice clothes, and your chances get a lot better. I’ve been unemployed most of my life due to my stubborness in that.
The common denominator in these things is this: I’ve always demanded a chance to speak in my own voice, or I haven’t talked. Essays and writing have always been my vent to say something of my own, when every other place you look in school or in life there’s someone or something grilling you to turn in work that’s identical to everybody else.
But my final point, and the one I’ve actually been leading into, is that to think like I’ve been thinking won’t get you very far. My favorite teacher from high school, my English teacher senior year, told me, “It’s not about justifying things to yourself. You don’t get through life that way. If I’m going to put my name on something, I’m going to make sure it’s the best damn work I can put together.”
And that is true. To not do all of the work put in front of you, and just choose which parts of it are worth your time, is lazy. The reason I had an 85% average in high school and not 100%, and the reason I’ve spent most of my life so far unemployed, is because I’ve been lazy.
This comment has turned out to be more personal than an objective commentary on the article, but I have to go and don’t have time to rewrite it. But I do think this is a major point that the article is missing out on: the laziness. Nothing life offers you will ever be perfectly tailored to your needs and interests, unless you cut your own piece of it yourself. The kid who asks “What’s the point?” is not the kid we should be slapping on the back and sympathizing with, but the kid we should be slapping in the face to wake him up. He expects the point to be given to him, when he has to find it for himself.
Mike, you said it clearly yourself – nothing life ever offers you will ever be perfectly tailored to you.
That article wasn’t missing the point of laziness, the purpose of that article is really to give people the wake up call that this is happening.
As someone who entered the school system late (was home schooled until grade 8), my biggest problem with school wasn’t the feminisation, but the stupidity of the bureaucratic system. Having never experienced unbending rules and people who refuse to see your side of things (not to mention getting in trouble for ridiculous things like reading for pleasure in English class while the class worked on something I was done with), I didn’t learn that working within the system was to my benefit and my rebellion would neither help me or them until my later years in the system. After reading Robert Greene I know that it was an entirely idiotic way to deal with the situation, but there’s something to be said for taking a stand and feeling emotionally right, than to cower and feel bad.