Treat Each One as though it Matters

Many people think they have a thousand chances to get it right -- rather than understanding that they have one chance to get it right, and when they do, may earn a thousand more chances -- further on in life, but if they get it wrong one time, may never have another chance.

That is the simple lesson of life -- that one earns all their future chances -- or may be eliminated entirely from the game of life by just the one bad choice.  So it behooves one to err on the side of caution and prudence -- rather than being overconfident that luck and God will always be on their side.  That's not how the game of life is played -- and plays out.  That's why it is often noted in a bad end, that Darwinism has once again proven itself -- as some survive, and many perish -- even at the same challenge.

The proper understanding, is not that one has a random chance of anything happening for them, but that each decision and choice, predetermines the next.  So even a baby step, well done, can lead to many others, and then, to a bigger step -- but one thinking only to make a giant leap without any practice, never learns how it is done.  Instead, they will think that it is sufficient -- just to imagine that success, and enjoy the fruits of victory -- without ever putting in the hard work to get anywhere.  Invariably, they think somebody else should do all the work -- but they should share equally with the fruits of that success -- equally, and even, a little more -- because they cannot do it for themselves.

The wise teacher would then offer to show them how it is done -- systematically and methodically -- so they can achieve it for themselves, as well as for others.
But unfortunately many, do not want to achieve it for themselves -- or any others, but are only interested if it is "free," and costs them no money, time or effort.    That is the world they were raised in -- and think explains everything -- that all that is required, is to press one's demand for an equal share -- regardless of their contribution.  In fact, often, they try to discourage everyone else in making those efforts --  as foolish because everyone is entitled to the same, in the end.  In such a world, nobody makes a difference -- and it is the same outcome, no matter what.

Of course, that's not the real world -- where everything makes a difference, and has significance -- though some argue mightily that nothing does, and nothing ever has.  Clearly that is a wrong understanding of effort -- and its ability to make a difference.  And for that reason, such people live in constant despair, hopelessness, and dysfunction.  Nothing seems to turn out right for them, and they have no idea why.  That is the mystical outlook -- that nothing happens for a reason, and there is no cause and effect relationship.  Bad things, as well as good things -- merely happen, and so life and its outcomes, are just one big crapshoot -- and one can waste all their chances, because it doesn't make a difference.

Contrast that with one who tries to do the best they can -- as though their very life depended on it -- and their future -- even the future of the whole species.  Meanwhile, the masses are merely preoccupied with where they stand in line for all the goodies.  Instead, they castigate those taking the risks and doing all the work to produce that bounty.

That is the groundwork for societies and conditions that don't work -- emerging on the fringes of societies to greater prominence, because societies cannot discriminate that essential difference.  Instead, they are totally self-absorbed in things that do not matter -- like whether they can control what others think of them.  That has become the major disease of these times -- that people want others to think of them as more important than they actually are.  So now, everyone is an award-winning something or other -- and is a major influencer on thought, even if they have nothing to say, or contribute.

They are totally delusional -- and simply become more so with age.  So is it any wonder that they become deranged and demented ultimately?  It is only revealed more clearly and obviously, because they become more helpless and unable to support themselves in their delusions of competency.  It may strike one at any age -- and some in the prime of their lives.  Most battle back, but some never do -- and just go completely off-track, into their own private worlds.  That is the darkness of mental illness -- that most are largely buffered from.

But as many more survive who in previous times would have perished, that population becomes naturally more evident -- with all its problems.  However, the road back is to get them to do one thing right -- and then another.  That is the essential skill-building exercise one needs to grow stronger and more competent.  That should be encouraged -- and not vilified.   The answer is not how much more others can do for them, but how much they can do for themselves -- and are given those opportunities.

Basic hygiene and self-care, are primary skills -- even in the apes and other animals.  That keeps them healthy and competent -- beyond any other.  If all they do is look very good, they are well on their way to restoring a mainstream life.  Mere appearance is the objective -- actually manifested, and not just trying to convince others of that competence and ability.  That is not superficial -- but the actual -- particularly as people get older and care less and less about those things.  The person who at 100 still looks good, has achieved something everybody else has failed at.

Many simply give up trying -- altogether, and those who should know better, think it shouldn't matter.  But otherwise, there is no measure by which to shoot for -- and verify their progress.  A person who is just expected to get worse, will most assuredly do so -- because there is no standard for achievement and distinction.  Many cannot take care of the basics of their own hygiene, and are not expected to do so.  They simply require caregivers to do it for them.  Predictably, they lose those capacities -- and capabilities, and go on that way for years.

Those insisting on maintaining their own competence in self-care -- are admonished from doing so.  That is what the professionals of every stripe are for.

The "Average" is not the "Optimal"

One of the great flaws in modern education is the belief that the average is the ideal -- when it could be far from it.  Just because the average intelligence will be designated as 100 -- thoughtful people would not think to use that as the optimal attainment -- but aim for the exceptional, which would be very different from the average.  Instead, enlightened people would study the characteristics and profile of the exceptional, and attempt to replicate that -- or at least simulate it as their goal -- rather than striving for mediocrity in everything they do.   

That really is the history and evolution of society and culture -- to determine what works best -- rather than simply repeating what they've always done before -- precluding and prohibiting progress and evolution.  The objective of life, is to better itself -- and not just to keep on doing what it has always done before -- even if it is not working, and many have already forgotten why it is they were doing it in the first place. 

Instead, they have to move on -- and discover what works -- and not merely repeat the past, as though that was an intelligent thing to do -- let alone, the most intelligent thing one can do.  That's not it at all.  That is in fact, the dysfunctional pattern -- of dysfunctional individuals and societies.  Of course they become extinct -- and before then, suffer every disadvantage. and catastrophe.

There are always a few who think that is their opportunity to get ahead -- and remain there -- insisting that everybody else should remain behind them, and never jump ahead -- no matter if one is in the wrong line.  That they are at the head of it, is all they want to know -- and the bigger picture, is not of their concern, even if their line is not moving, nor shows any signs of life.  They're just going to continue to do what they've always done before -- with little or disastrous results -- thinking that is the average, and the best one can hope or strive for.

Far more useful to know than the average, or the median, is the range -- and particularly those associated with desirable outcomes, rather than dragging everybody back to the average -- as though that was an intelligent thing to do.  The healthiest people will not be the average -- nor will the strongest, fastest, most resourceful.  They are exceptional for that reason -- and that should be studied, rather than the average -- and achieving greater mediocrity with each iteration.

So beyond knowing what the average is, one selects those qualities one hopes to accentuate, and eliminates those liabilities that undermine their aspirations, and not simply try to make everyone as equal as possible -- thinking that is the goal of any enlightened and progressive society.  Assuredly that is not -- because a more perfect society is the higher objective -- and not merely spreading the poverty and misery equally so that none can rise above any other.  That is totally misguided and foolhardy.  An intelligent society wishes those most capable to get ahead -- and define that possibility that never existed before, for everybody else to come.

That is the march of humanity -- and how we got to where we are.  The objective of any race, is not to establish and maintain the existing status quo and pecking order -- but ultimately, to challenge it -- and in doing so, better it.  Of course in this, many will be left behind -- but mostly because they choose to be so, and not because it is not in them, to keep up.  The better way, is invariably the easier way -- and so many more can participate, rather than excluding those who will not conform to the narrowly-contrived arbitrary prerequisites of those who insist on being always on top -- and for everybody else to get behind them, and tow the conformity.

Thus, many use the average, for that self-serving purpose -- of forcing everybody else to live up to their expectations for everyone else.  That is what they think everybody else showed up for -- to further their own political/social/economic aspirations.  Increasingly though, that is becoming rarer -- as more people feel empowered to fulfill their own unique visions of what is possible.

There will be those who will maintain that such aspirations are not possible for any but the elites that they represent -- as their God-given distinction.  That is increasingly rare except for a few professions -- who still maintain that they are the gatekeepers for all that can be known.  They may even claim a Constitutional mandate for such privileges -- as the only ones who must be believed.  They know the averages -- and are in charge of their adherence and conformance.

In most cases, they are largely self-appointed, and self-serving -- as they feel is their proper station in life.  The averages are for everybody else to conform to -- and never to question.  To question, is to exhibit weakness -- that one does not know -- which in their world, is a major crime.  One should know everything -- with perfect knowledge -- to be among the elite -- even, and especially when one has no idea what they are talking about.  That is what the average knows -- and there can be no variance from the known.  What they know, is all that can be known.  There is no other.