The social obligation to be bad at things

Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by will_pseudonym on Thursday June 11, 2020 @12:41PM (#23490647)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

Such a good message. I stumbled upon that quote from Brene Brown's TED talk on shame [0], which I definitely recommend.

[0] https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listening_to_shame

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Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by matwood on Thursday June 11, 2020 @02:21PM (#23491752)

There are many variations on this theme, and the message is all the same - it's better to try and fail than to not try at all. And to expand on it further, growth and learning comes from the the struggle and often coming up short. I was about to walk out onto the mat for my first BJJ comp and told my trainer I was nervous about letting him down. He paraphrased the Roosevelt quote above with 'any person who steps into the arena isn't letting me down'.

Another, what I would also consider a variation of the above, is the quote from Michael Jordan, "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

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Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by Nohnce1 on Thursday June 11, 2020 @03:51PM (#23492684)

I want to take a step further and say that it's the character of the individual, the bravery of the one who's willing to shut out the outer world in pursuit of what's intrinsically valuable to the inner world. It's those who are critical that live at the mercy of the criticisms of others, and those will never be able to live the lives that'll fulfill them. This way of phrasing helped me understand more emotionally.

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Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by swimfar on Thursday June 11, 2020 @03:12PM (#23492333)

BJJ=Brazilian Jujitsu

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Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by thewebcount on Friday June 12, 2020 @11:40AM (#23500327)

There's no shame in trying and failing, but at the same time, criticism is a completely valid thing. It can, of course, be presented in a poor way, or it can just be poor criticism. But you don't have to be a professional opera singer to know that a professional opera singer gave a poor performance and there's absolutely nothing wrong with pointing it out.

If you're trying to entertain or inform me and you failed to do that, I will absolutely say that I was not satisfied with the result (especially if I paid for it!). Criticism is the only consistent way the world moves forward. We all need it in our lives. I don't know Mr. Roosevelt's context for that quote, but seeing it in isolation, it does not resonate with me at all. It sounds like a child trying to justify why they did win the race even though they came in last.

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Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by circlefavshape on Thursday June 11, 2020 @12:51PM (#23490754)

/me wipes the dust and sweat and blood off his face, and feels good about his efforts for a little while

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Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by nicky0 on Thursday June 11, 2020 @01:27PM (#23491122)

This quote was printed out and stuck on the wall of the changing room of the gym I used to go to.

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Re:The social obligation to be bad at things by genericone on Thursday June 11, 2020 @01:18PM (#23491039)

Just curious, would you view politicians in the same light?

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