What's Wrong With Being Ordinary and Mediocre?

Off Topic
21

[quote]johnconkle wrote:

what’s the called … educational inflation or something like that.

[/quote]

Grade inflation.

I go to UC Santa Cruz (check family guy for a joke making fun of my school) and I have to say, this is real.

Some of the people that go here are dumb beyond belief. Maybe my expectation of the intelligence of a college student was idealized in some way, but man… I don’t know what to say.

There seems to be a lack of motivation, and most people do the college equivalent of living paycheck to paycheck. That means that if they have a paper due, they will finish it, but it’ll be done all night just before it is due, and usually very little deep thought goes into it.

Can’t wait to get the hell out of here.[/quote]

While unable to truly “keep-up” we have had decent success with interns, who are in their junior year.

This year in-fact we have one kid who is ready to jump in today. Very bright, and proactive. Shit I wish we could keep him full-time now. Who needs the last year of college?

Then again we aren’t inviting management, marketing, communications or CJ majors to interview.

Your typical accounting undergrad is a touch “different” than the norm to begin with.

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Well according to stats only 29% of people have a degree.

The Air Force really allows for upward mobility so my dad was average or below average but he toughed it out and is well above average in terms of education and income now, he did however spend 20 plus years enlisted. So in the service I would label a non retiree as average (enlisted).

The same for my grandpa he was a trash man but stuck it out long enough to earn a nice sum of money and retire comfortably (big house, nice cars etc…)

23

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]polo77j wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]polo77j wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]polo77j wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]polo77j wrote:
What do you consider to be ordinary and mediocre? I personally think a lot of successful people are ordinary and mediocre and quite happy and wouldn’t want to change a thing. [/quote]

How is someone considered to be “mediocre” also “successful”?

There is no doubt that ignorance is bliss.[/quote]

Depends on what you consider to be successful and what you consider to be mediocre … A school teacher who produces bright, insightful young people is successful yet makes a mediocre salary[/quote]

How is a school teacher “mediocre”? That takes a college degree.

That is NOT “mediocre”.

Mediocre is working at Target at the age of 45 as a cashier…or being 35 years old working the fry-o-lator at Jack In The Box.

Mediocre isn’t about income unless we are specifically speaking of income.

Most people content to be mediocre are NOT successful unless they inherited their money or won the lottery.[/quote]

Who said teaching was mediocre? I certainly didn’t … I think you need to go back and read what was written instead of reading what you want to read X[/quote]

I know what you wrote, but if we are now considering a teacher’s salary to be “mediocre”, then MOST jobs are “mediocre” unless they earn more than 50K a year.

The definition of mediocre is “Moderate to inferior in quality; ordinary.”. I would not use that for a teacher’s salary. They get three months off a year and insurance overage. They get paid about as much as can be expected given the perks. I know I can’t take 3 months off from work.[/quote]

fair enough, maybe I should phrase it differently, there are mediocre teachers are there not? there are meidocre dentists are there not? shit you were in the air force God knows there are mediocre airmen and there are successful airmen (prior air force myself) and they got the same pay grade (let’s use the E-3 pay grade) … when I was an E-3 I helped found an airman’s club which was much like the top 3 and was VP from it’s inception until I left 6 months later … I was passed over for Below the Zone … would I be mediocre or successful or both?[/quote]

I wouldn’t call the Air Force mediocre at all. They are THE best as far as medical care in the military. I’ll argue that till my last breath. Pointing out one or two poor soldiers doesn’t change that. But I digress, this topic loses any purpose if you are just going to point out random “failures” in every activity or career.

Once again, mediocre as far as I am concerned when speaking CAREER involves someone who is just making ends meet and isn’t working to do more. If you are still working a job by middle age that most people consider to be a good “first job” for a teenager, you would be mediocre as far as career choice.[/quote]

I won’t argue w/ you about air force medical, we’ve both experienced it but I won’t agree with you that there aren’t mediocre people involved in it. Agree to disagree is fine with me.

If you want to speak career, there are people who have respectable careers who are only going through the motions “making ends meet” (depends on the income but some people have LARGE ends) and there are some who are working to better their profession and careers. Could you consider that first person to be mediocre while the other is far more motivated?

This discussion could go on for days tbh and I know what you’re saying and tend to agree as the 40 yr old working a managment position at BK is mediocre.

24

[quote]Professor X wrote:
How is a school teacher “mediocre”? That takes a college degree.

That is NOT “mediocre”.
[/quote]

I think mediocrity is defined in context of an individuals potential; how hard are you working based on how hard you’re able to? With that definition, there’s plenty of mediocre students I go to school with (maybe I sometimes fit that bill. Ha!). And plenty of mediocre college professors I go to school with.

I’ve no doubt these mediocre professors I’ve had the pleasure of being taught by are incredibly bright; some even having multiple PhD degrees. However, they’re mediocre teachers simply because they’re not applying themselves as much as they could towards teaching. They’re half-assing it. That’s being mediocre.

25

[quote]goochadamg wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:
How is a school teacher “mediocre”? That takes a college degree.

That is NOT “mediocre”.
[/quote]

I think mediocrity is defined in context of an individuals potential; how hard are you working based on how hard you’re able to? With that definition, there’s plenty of mediocre students I go to school with (maybe I sometimes fit that bill. Ha!). And plenty of mediocre college professors I go to school with.

I’ve no doubt these mediocre professors I’ve had the pleasure of being taught by are incredibly bright; some even having multiple PhD degrees. However, they’re mediocre teachers simply because they’re not applying themselves as much as they could towards teaching. They’re half-assing it. That’s being mediocre.[/quote]

I don’t think you all understand this topic is fucking pointless as long as some of you keep trying to point out how every fucking career or level of education can be mediocre.

That isn’t the point.

27

Just to add, I doubt most people consider the average PhD or person with a medical degree working on cancer research to be “mediocre”. It is a highly skilled job that takes a higher level of understanding to perform. The same can be said of engineers, surgeons, or even some computer designers. Pointing that some surgeon somewhere might also be “mediocre” erases any point of this discussion…so the thread should just end here.

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[quote]JLu wrote:
Why would there be chaos and savagery if everyone wanted to better themselves?[/quote]

Why didn’t the thread end here?

30

[quote]Airtruth wrote:

[quote]JLu wrote:
Why would there be chaos and savagery if everyone wanted to better themselves?[/quote]

Why didn’t the thread end here?
[/quote]

because we willed it to live!!

31

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Didn’t get enough hits on FB, eh?[/quote]

I didn’t, which is why I’m bringing this intellectual discussion here.

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[quote]Professor X wrote:

Mediocre is working at Target at the age of 45 as a cashier…or being 35 years old working the fry-o-lator at Jack In The Box.

[/quote]

I don’t think thats mediocre, I think that is pathetic. Lots of pathetic people. Mediocre is Everyone who isn’t at the very top of thier field. Are you a doctor? Congratufuckinglations, so are about 2 million other people. Lawyer, congrats, only a couple million people before you have ever done that. Just because you earn enough money to affored stuff, doesn’t mean you are above average.

That kid who slaughtered guitar hero, That is above average. Pro althetes are above average. Olympic medalists are above average. The 17 year old who sailed solo around the world is above average. Until you do something that puts you into a very elite group of people, and I don’t care what it is, it could be beer pong for all I care, unless you do something better than nearly all other humans, you are just average.

As for what makes me so damn special, thats easy, I’m the best at being average. Ha!

V

33

[quote]Vegita wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Mediocre is working at Target at the age of 45 as a cashier…or being 35 years old working the fry-o-lator at Jack In The Box.

[/quote]

I don’t think thats mediocre, I think that is pathetic. Lots of pathetic people. Mediocre is Everyone who isn’t at the very top of thier field. Are you a doctor? Congratufuckinglations, so are about 2 million other people. Lawyer, congrats, only a couple million people before you have ever done that. Just because you earn enough money to affored stuff, doesn’t mean you are above average.
V[/quote]

You can believe what you want to if it helps you sleep at night, but I would venture that most do not consider any career that earns 6 figures a year to be “mediocre” nor most of the people in those fields. However, you may be right as far as numbers;

Gee, going just by numbers might make it seem like ANYONE could be a doctor…but most people realize that to be a retarded assumption. The level of attention to detail and the schooling required (as well as the sacrifices made) to simply become one exclude the rest of the population.

Whether you call that ability to make it through the training necessary “above average” is irrelevant since most “average” people as far as determination or intellect won’t be able to do the same.

I mean, shit, there may be thousands more who are SMART enough to be one but who don’t have the drive to sacrifice their free time or social life to make it happen.

How is that “average”?

35

FTR X is referring to the population as a whole while the majority of people he is arguing with/having a discussion with are referring to individuals within a profession…

X is on point with what his discussion pertains to … an doctor is above average in the population in terms of acheivement professionally.

In that light I have nothing to disagree with him with, and to answer brick’s orginal question in that light; nothing is wrong with it, while not everyone will be running wild in the streets if we were all ambitious over achievers it would only mean we would have over qualified janitors…

36

[quote]Professor X wrote:

You can believe what you want to if it helps you sleep at night, but I would venture that most do not consider any career that earns 6 figures a year to be “mediocre” nor most of the people in those fields. However, you may be right as far as numbers;

Gee, going just by numbers might make it seem like ANYONE could be a doctor…but most people realize that to be a retarded assumption. The level of attention to detail and the schooling required (as well as the sacrifices made) to simply become one exclude the rest of the population.

Whether you call that ability to make it through the training necessary “above average” is irrelevant since most “average” people as far as determination or intellect won’t be able to do the same.

I mean, shit, there may be thousands more who are SMART enough to be one but who don’t have the drive to sacrifice their free time or social life to make it happen.

How is that “average”?[/quote]

Well obviously you value people soley by how much money they earn. Earning a lot of money doesn’t mean you are above average. It may mean you have above average wealth or earning potential, but you may not actually do anything any better than anyone else, you may have had opportunities present themselves which allowed you to earn more.

I didn’t see in the Ops post, where he said what’s wrong with earning an average living, you just seem to think that is what he was talking about and therefore anyone who talks about being average/above average with any other regards is somehow stupid for not getting what OP meant.

I think he actually wrote, Physically and intellectually, so a pro athlete is not average physically, and Bill gates was not average when he started microsoft, granted it led him to be the richest man in the world, but he was above average when he dropped out of harvard, being rich didn’t make him above average. Gahndi was above average, I don’t think he was righ was he?

I know personally plent of doctors, dentists, surgeons, optometrists, phycologists, nuerologists, etc… not a single one of them is an above average human being. They were good in school, and were lucky enough to have decided early on in thier life what they wanted to do, and they went and did it. There is nothing miraculous about that.

V

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If most people are mediocre, it wouldn’t take much to become a success.

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I’m so mediocre, that i’m mediocre in my mediocrity.

Therefore, I am unable to assess what success is, since mediocrity is the norm.

39

[quote]imhungry wrote:
I’m so mediocre, that i’m mediocre in my mediocrity.

Therefore, I am unable to assess what success is, since mediocrity is the norm.[/quote]

Who you kidding, You are elite! Post count OVER 10,000! Be proud brother and revel in your elite status.

V

40

[quote]Vegita wrote:

[quote]imhungry wrote:
I’m so mediocre, that i’m mediocre in my mediocrity.

Therefore, I am unable to assess what success is, since mediocrity is the norm.[/quote]

Who you kidding, You are elite! Post count OVER 10,000! Be proud brother and revel in your elite status.

V[/quote]

<3 you.