[pi3832]

>I can bet that woman must be good at something she has never been tested on and probably does not know about.

Hah. That women may very well be average at a lot of things, and bad at the rest.

This idea that "everyone has a special gift!" is just pixie-dust dreaming. Most people simply aren't special, in any sense of the word.

Fight Club: "We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact."

The sooner people learn that, the sooner they can get on with their lives of mediocrity.

[MaysonL]

I would reply that almost everybody is capable of becoming very good at many things. Unfortunately, we are often taught the opposite. Of course, becoming very good at something requires persistent effort, extended over years of focussed practice.

[oz]

Amen. It smacks of the 'Oprah-watching, feel-good-book-reading, "let's hold hands and sing kumbaya"' bullshit that pervades society.

The fact is that people have differing levels of ability. but with everybody screaming for 'equality,' everyone has to have some 'special gift.' I'm not saying that some lives are worth more than others (although there's an interesting philosophical argument against this), but the idea that 'you can do anything you set your mind to' is false.

[turkishrevenge]

I agree, but I don't think it's an issue of equality in the sense that we're all given trophies and told we're all winners. I think it stems from the fact that most people totally abhor the concept of being thought of as common. Not everyone can be a leader--hell, if that were the case nothing would get done. Really though, there is nothing wrong with being an ordinary working citizen. If you have a hobby, pursue it in your free time. Conversely, if you like watching TV and jerking off, by all means, indulge in it.

[william42]

There's still comparative advantage.