Was visiting a older gentleman in my family whom I respect. He lives in a very beautiful area and his partner is just the nicest. He’s retired and spends his time fishing.

I was complimenting him and said. ‘You really are a lucky guy.’

he said ‘OH. I hate it when people say that. This was a plan and I worked hard’.

He then told me about how he worked for the same school district for 30 years! And got a pension and spent wisely.

Damn. 30 whole years.

  • DroneRights [it/its]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    Also intelligence, strength, skill, health, and attitude are all luck. I find the logical leap from “I have superior attributes as a biological specimen” to “I deserve better privileges” absurd and vaguely fascist

    • Wheaties [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      health is a real crapshoot, i’ll give you that

      But the rest of that list is behaviors and qualities you can cultivate. Intelligence isn’t some hard stat like the calculations-per-second in a computer, it’s a process of clear methodical thinking that is learned. How fast or slow you may think doesn’t limit how smart you can be. And a ‘skill’ is just a set of behaviors that have been refined with practice, you’re not born with them. Attitude is… harder, but it’s something you learn to work with as you get a better sense of the inputs and patterns behind it.