Is being an overachiever always better than being an underachiever?

[blind_fury]

Maybe life should be about leisure, reflection, and casual recreation rather than work and social climbing.

[Erzengel]

I wish life could be more about leisure, and reflection. I wish we were like some European countries that are essentially off for 2 months.

However, we are not and the fact that we have to work to survive in this country is a harsh reality.

[blind_fury]

I remember this news story about a woman who sought out a sperm donor with genius level intelligence. She probably figured her child would be a successful doctor or lawyer. The dude turned out to be a total slacker-hippie.

lolz!!! serves her right.

[Kevin Roegele]

Originally Posted by blind_fury

Maybe life should be about leisure, reflection, and casual recreation rather than work and social climbing.

There are many societies throughout history that consider that superior.

To quote from wikipedia:

"Hard work for its own sake is a fairly modern phenomenon, becoming culturally acceptable during the Protestant Reformation. A positive view on work was not a cultural norm for Hebrew, Classical antiquity, or medieval cultures. Greek society recognized that work was necessary for the satisfaction of material needs, but philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle made it clear that the purpose for which the majority of men labored was "in order that the minority, the élite, might engage in pure exercises of the mind — art, philosophy, and politics"."

"The Greeks believed that a person's prudence, morality, and wisdom was directly proportional to the amount of leisure time that person had."

"Proponents of slacker theory assert that managing to survive by doing things at the last possible moment improves intellect as a compensatory way to cope, fashioning a wily yet lazy person. Similarly, a disorganized lifestyle may be superior to an organized one from the pragmatic perspective that a slacker will adapt to disorderliness by improving skills at memorization and at effortlessly rummaging, whereas actively organizing would require serious effort. Hence, the epithet slacker, while often used in the pejorative, is growingly signifying a complimentary, cerebral quality of an unconventional person. "

[Kevin Roegele]

Originally Posted by blind_fury

I remember this news story about a woman and sought out a sperm donor with genius level intelligence.

She still hasn't paid me for that-!

[blind_fury]

The masses are bunch of ants. Overachievers are celebrated because it makes the "colony" work harder and obey the rules.

You know what's more important than money and prestigie? My energy and time.

[Kevin Roegele]

Originally Posted by blind_fury

The masses are bunch of ants. Overachievers are celebrated because it makes the "colony" work harder and obey the rules.

You know what's more important than money and prestigie? My energy and time.

Exactly. Why do people rate money over time? You can always get more money. You can never get more time.

[X-Chick]

I'm proud to be an underachiever.

[blind_fury]

watch the last 5 seconds.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFeNllfpylk

[X-Chick]

Family Guy is awesome.

[November Rain]

being an overachiever is never a good thing...

never...

always better to underachieve...

what's the point of having done everything you've ever wanted to by the time you are 30?

give yourself something to look forward to...

there is no greater quality than hidden potential and also looking forward to harness it...

practically a large proportion of fiction and fantasy are based on underachieving uber potential characters and you don't see them complaining, do you?

[X-Chick]

It was probably pointless to even bother with this poll when we're pretty much all slackers here.

[blind_fury]

Didn't these "overachievers" see Citizen Kane?

After all he accomplished the thing he treasured the most was his care free childhood.

[blind_fury]

I'd rather be like the big lebowski drinking white russians and bowling all day than some major industrialist.

[November Rain]

don't you instead mean the dude?

[blind_fury]

yeah my bad.

the dude.

[blind_fury]

Originally Posted by November Rain

there is no greater quality than hidden potential and also looking forward to harness it...

great point. An overachiever looks in the mirror only to realize there's no hidden potential or greater possibilty.

[Neptune]

Originally Posted by blind_fury

Maybe life should be about leisure, reflection, and casual recreation rather than work and social climbing.

Totally! I'm a proffesional underachiever by the way. 20 years and still going strong

[Erzengel]

Originally Posted by blind_fury

great point. An overachiever looks in the mirror only to realize there's no hidden potential or greater possibilty.

So unless you are have a trust fund, or win the lottery what exactly is your solution to not working yourself like a dog for years on end?

[blind_fury]

Originally Posted by Erzengel

So unless you are have a trust fund, or win the lottery what exactly is your solution to not working yourself like a dog for years on end?

Spending your life doing more work than necessary is silly. Sure you retire when your 55 instead of 65 but at what cost. You spent most your life fulfilling other peoples demands and expectations instead of going to the beach or relaxing with friends. Your life was wasted doing what society wanted not enjoying your own personal time.

[Erzengel]

You're still a student right? What are you going to school for?

[Mr Sparkle]

Originally Posted by Erzengel

I wish life could be more about leisure, and reflection. I wish we were like some European countries that are essentially off for 2 months.

However, we are not and the fact that we have to work to survive in this country is a harsh reality.

but we have to work to survive because we've allowed ourselves to believe that.
it's not like we're planting next year's food supply or hunting.
with all the technology made to simplify our work we're actually working MORE.
it's insane and just a little obscene.

[Erzengel]

I wish I could be some rich woman's cabanna boy or pool boy.

[jaguarr]

I think some of you are attaching a certain stigma to what an overachiever is and tying that to work and ambition, only. It's very possible to be an overachiever in your leisure activities and personal hobbies as well. To me, being an overachiever simply means giving your best effort in everything you do and trying to realize your full potential, regardless of the endeavor be it your career, your family, your friends, your personal interests, etc.

jag

[November Rain]

alright, look at it like this...

there's a test...

you only need 60% to pass and 75 is an A

would you be happier getting 64% and doing like an hour's revision or doing 5 hours revision and getting 88%?

i'd be happier with the former knowing i had the potential to do better IF i needed to....