The Millenial generation has taken coddling to a whole new level. A disturbing fixture in Western society - probably an emergent property of the 'Self-Esteem movement' - is the reinforced delusions of losers who can't admit they don't have what it takes to make a billion dollars before they're thirty or juggle multiple businesses. Instead of allowing kids to know their limitations and incorporate the lessons of their failures we give them excuses for it. Modern technology doesn't help: it's a self-affirming circus spectacle that makes people feel empowered, distracting them even further from the reality of their loserhood. Yahoo Answers, Facebook, YouTube, G+, Tumblr, Twitter, Reddit, whatever latest flavour has shanghaied our senses - all these serve as deterrents to real self-reflection. They postpone the inevitable realisation that you're not a young success story and have a lower probability of success than those people you idolise (or demonise out of jealousy).
Most don't have what it takes to be a profitable entrepreneur. Fixed mindset, stupidity, failure to launch - whatever it is, most people will be mediocre. Tragically, a lifetime of false promises and jejune assertions of a loser's greatness creates massive cognitive dissonance when they consider that maybe, just maybe they aren't a budding genius who's about to hit it big. Their focus is all wrong: losers obsess about how they're different from successful people instead of looking for solutions to smaller problems. Call it 'externalising achievement'. Such people peruse the Internet with queries like, 'Can I be a success at age 27?' 'How do they do it?' 'Can I learn programming at age 30?' 'I have no ambition, no initiative...' true, and sorry, that's your lot in life. It's not clinical depression holding you back, it's impossible ideals.
Just look at the history of 'the wunderkind', how they engineered personal projects and sought control before they even entered high school. This wasn't part of school or some other system forced on them - they didn't have to convince themselves to do it. They just wanted to - some would say they had to. Those who want to succeed have a compulsion to do so; they don't rely on a childish pat on the back from other Internet losers. They knew what they wanted long before you (and you still don't if you're reading this). They fed their need to solve practical problems and establish independence from a young age. They weren't mired in an existential crisis well into their twenties and thirties. They may ask for help with a particular goal, but that's called getting advice instead of nauseating hand-holding.
But no - these truths are too uncomfortable for a whiny Millenial. They admit it to themselves in private but still want someone to tell them otherwise. They can't stand being a loser; and in this age they have outlets for their frustration, countless methods for convincing themselves it's not true. So when you see that confused, spoiled and lazy high schooler on Answers begging for an affirmation of his latent greatness, don't give it to him. He'll give you a laundry list of accomplishments, will compare himself to his overachieving peers or Mark Zuckerberg and lie in wait for compassionate dupes to tell him that his standards are too high, that he has so much potential, and if he applied himself he too will be a tech mogul by age 25. He signs off satisfied, content with the encouragement of strangers until an hour later when the depressing reality hits him again.
Don't feed the machine of self-aggandisement and self-delusion. The next time a young person wants to be coddled, tell them they're not special and don't waste your time.
Most don't have what it takes to be a profitable entrepreneur. Fixed mindset, stupidity, failure to launch - whatever it is, most people will be mediocre. Tragically, a lifetime of false promises and jejune assertions of a loser's greatness creates massive cognitive dissonance when they consider that maybe, just maybe they aren't a budding genius who's about to hit it big. Their focus is all wrong: losers obsess about how they're different from successful people instead of looking for solutions to smaller problems. Call it 'externalising achievement'. Such people peruse the Internet with queries like, 'Can I be a success at age 27?' 'How do they do it?' 'Can I learn programming at age 30?' 'I have no ambition, no initiative...' true, and sorry, that's your lot in life. It's not clinical depression holding you back, it's impossible ideals.
Just look at the history of 'the wunderkind', how they engineered personal projects and sought control before they even entered high school. This wasn't part of school or some other system forced on them - they didn't have to convince themselves to do it. They just wanted to - some would say they had to. Those who want to succeed have a compulsion to do so; they don't rely on a childish pat on the back from other Internet losers. They knew what they wanted long before you (and you still don't if you're reading this). They fed their need to solve practical problems and establish independence from a young age. They weren't mired in an existential crisis well into their twenties and thirties. They may ask for help with a particular goal, but that's called getting advice instead of nauseating hand-holding.
But no - these truths are too uncomfortable for a whiny Millenial. They admit it to themselves in private but still want someone to tell them otherwise. They can't stand being a loser; and in this age they have outlets for their frustration, countless methods for convincing themselves it's not true. So when you see that confused, spoiled and lazy high schooler on Answers begging for an affirmation of his latent greatness, don't give it to him. He'll give you a laundry list of accomplishments, will compare himself to his overachieving peers or Mark Zuckerberg and lie in wait for compassionate dupes to tell him that his standards are too high, that he has so much potential, and if he applied himself he too will be a tech mogul by age 25. He signs off satisfied, content with the encouragement of strangers until an hour later when the depressing reality hits him again.
Don't feed the machine of self-aggandisement and self-delusion. The next time a young person wants to be coddled, tell them they're not special and don't waste your time.
