Mediocrity - the impediment

Tons had happened since the last posting; of course, this is partly due to the month in-between blogs. Yet, the other contributing factors are people making rash decisions, people thinking that they will fare better outside and people who sneer at others for trying their best in whatever they do.

Amidst the maelstrom, a thought latched itself in my mind – does ‘the best is yet to be’ hold true for most people? If this is so, when is their best going to be?

Why are people contented with the status quo, with their achievements so far (if there is any to even talk about), with what they can do in their realm of influence, with their life? Did they receive some divine message that tells them, “Hey, I think this is the most you can achieve in this lifetime so from now on just take it easy.”

If there is really such a message, I beseech the one who is relaying this to add, “but this doesn’t mean all of us possess the same level of capability (incapability). Let those who can do more, do it and YOU mind your own business.”

What makes me say this? I have heard and read of incidents where kids are ostracized when they are labeled as smart/hardworking. Some teachers, in UK, have turned to using “cool” to describe hardworking students. To me, this breeds and reinforce the mentality of “why bother when all of us are getting the same marks?” or “why make myself stand out?” These people’s goal in life is to fall within the 6th percentile to the 95th percentile of a Normal distribution. They have no desire to be in the top 5%.

Granted some of us are hampered by inability, but who is the one who determines whether one has the ability or inability - our parents, our teachers, our co-workers? Or is it ourselves?

Bounced off this topic with some friends and the conclusion that we reached was “Aiya, if this is what most people think, then so be it. It’s difficult to change one’s mindset. Anyway, only few would dare to go against the flow and be ‘extra’ right.”

This brings me to the double-edge sword of socialization.
Socialization, political or cultural, takes place as soon as one is leaves the safety of the mother’s womb, think baby boys wear blue and girls pink. It takes place in all realms of a person’s life and this serves to introduce him to the norms and practices of his society and his type of people so that he is one of the others, not a freak. Yes, it is true that it brings about the much needed order to our otherwise chaotic world that we live in.

BUT, being largely conformist in nature, we tend to subject ourselves to these norms, either consciously or sub-consciously, so that we can blend in and not stick out like a sore thumb. This in return renders us social acceptance and of course, our peace of mind.

So what do we get out this? We have people settling down comfortably in the mean, median and mode of all things that they do and sneer and label the outliers (here I mean those who have outperformed them, though I am also against sneering and labeling the underperforming outliers).

Of course, there are 2 distinct ways for us, the outliers to respond:
1) Put a lid to our performance level. Restrain from putting in the effort that makes us stand out.
2) Do not give a damn to what these imbeciles have to say because sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never hurt us.

The response is obvious - If you have chosen response 1, then you don’t even qualify.

To those who hide your insecurity or display your contentment (choice is up to you) with your status quo, it’s better late than never. What makes you think that the mean, median and mode of all things is down there and not up here?