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by atomicnature 1038 days ago
Why so?

Who become the best engineers? Those who struggle the most with engineering issues.

Who become the best musicians? Those who struggle the most to refine their skills with their instruments, etc.

Who become the best scientists? Those who struggle the most with the theories/problems at hand.

What's the danger? I'd argue living with lower capabilities is more dangerous than otherwise; it's even less fulfilling to live with limited skills/resources.

1 comments

Because 1) it's incorrect which you admit. 2) It can lead to mistreating Stress

I disagree with all those points. The ones who struggle the most likely fail.

You're just making an assertion that my claim is incorrect. Practical experience shows - consistent effort does indeed deliver results, and leads to improvement in capability (by and large - as pointed in my original answer). For example, the whole education effort of 14-15 years is full of painful experiences, getting wrong answers in math, flunking in laboratories, etc. There is stress involved during the examination. If I simply avoid the exams citing stress, how'd I ever become capable?

Therefore, I don't see how you could be correct on this.

Practical experience shows - consistent effort does indeed deliver results => agreed

leads to improvement in capability => agreed

but the assertion that those who struggle the most become the best is not proven - and I disagree with it.

"Stress as an indicator of skill/resource deficits" is also not proven

Well, life is not mathematics, so you don't "prove" things in these life matters; one simply accumulates more corroboration that particular type of mental orientation is profitable (or otherwise).

I can cite at least 20+ extremely accomplished individuals (widely acknowledged to be so) in dealing with complex fields and matters touting the virtue/power of struggling with a problem. The struggle opens up pathsways to the human being.

I'd end this with one important sentence: "There is no royal road to geometry". I believe the same mentality extends to many other aspects of life too.

PS: Even at a personal level, the greatest pleasures in life for me are some sorts of "self-mastery" - taming the beast - that is the human mechanism. And these "internal results" are obtained through great price, time and effort.