2019.09.23
Betteridge's Law of Headlines ("Any headline that ends with a question mark can be answered by the word no.") not withstanding, I think it's a thoughtful article, pointing out that that kind of single minded perseverance might make pivots that much tougher - being able to change direction and developing a knack for finding the most promising, highest-reward-to-work ratios is important in a quickly changing environment.
The article also touches on something that came to me as I was reading the book, about the way we are biased towards respecting people who look like they're displaying natural aptitude vs "strivers" - it's not quite as mean or as irrational as it looks. There's a temporal element that gets left out when you assume people who don't prefer "strivers" are missing the point; these judgers intuitively know the hard work has already been done, the relevant selection process already applied, and now we are looking at the result.
I know some people like the message of "Grit" because of optimism - no matter how frustrated you are with your current achievements, all you have to do to achieve is just keep at it. And keeping at it is SO important - and people with "fixed mindset" might not understand that deeply enough. But being wise in choosing what you are "keeping at it "on is crucial as well - there's an almost Taoist principle of finding the natural course of things.
Not that I'm very far along the spectrum, but I wonder if there could be a connection between the classic autistic difficulty with seeing other points of view and my homegrown intuitions that individual subjective views and preferences don't matter; that only the objective view really has meaning. The classic subject with autism has trouble recognizing that their view isn't the de facto objectively correct one - my variant knows that my view isn't complete, but that there is a objectively most correct one to be had, and confidence comes from consensus - or else you have to explain why your own view is more likely correct.
My two current main problems with Marie Kondo and her famous method - and decluttering in general -
1. I kind of respect the Shintoism light aspect of it all, but throwing something in the garbage feels so disrespectful - yeah "thank it for its service", but then, into the trash? (And that whole justification of like "is this article really happy in some duty old drawer? Let it go!" Well - assuming it's not good donation fodder- I'm not sure if it's going to be happier in some dump.) And for something that truly carries personal energy, like an old photo... yikes!
2. So much clutter represents artifacts from my aspirational self, what I'd like to do or be given enough time and energy, and throwing that stuff away feels like murder of that future self. Or at least more firmly closing doors of potential that are hanging partially open.
Relevant quote:
For every yes there must be a no. Decisions are so expensive. They cost you everything else.