Being good at stuff

[Rain Man]

Would you rather

a) be really, really good at one thing with an immense natural talent (top 0.001 percent), but below average in everything else

or

b) be in the top 5 percent of almost everything, but not in the top 1 percent of anything?

If you pick Option a, what would your desired skill be?


Poll forthcoming. But then you probably already knew that.

[Discuss Thrower]

You know the saying:

Jack of all trades, master of being none.


AKA Donger's family's motto.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

That's probably a more revelatory question than you realized when you posed it.

ie that level of skill has to be a product of sacrifice, among other things, and I would imagine that many of us aren't skilled to that level because we've never made such sacrifices.

true but a lot of people don't make the sacrifice because they are too pessimistic to believe they could be great

This question removes that insecurity and doubt.

Would you give up your body for more brains?



Would you give up all your looks to be the best QB in the world?

[Coochie liquor]

Well rounded is my pick. If I'm really good at something, then that something becomes outlawed, or obsolete I want other skills to fall back on.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by PackerinMo

Neither.

Should I offer congratulations, or did you fail in this goal?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

That's probably a more revelatory question than you realized when you posed it.

ie that level of skill has to be a product of sacrifice, among other things, and I would imagine that many of us aren't skilled to that level because we've never made such sacrifices.

Good point. Maybe the only way to get to the .001 level is to have natural talent and then leverage it to the hilt. How many of us are willing to hold the throttle down for so long on one skill area?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Would you rather

a) be really, really good at one thing with an immense natural talent (top 0.001 percent), but below average in everything else

or

b) be in the top 5 percent of almost everything, but not in the top 1 percent of anything?

If you pick Option a, what would your desired skill be?


Poll forthcoming. But then you probably already knew that.

Even being in the top .001 percent of basketball players would make you only a borderline NBA player. You'd be a good NFL player and an average baseball player best. There are about 74 million people in the US aged 18-34. Of those, half are male, 37 million. 37 million times .00001 is 370.

There are 750 active professional baseball players, 1600 football players, and 360 in the NBA.