27
cursee
6y

Semi-Rant

At first I really was gonna keep quiet about the whole Linus topic. But then I just saw Mark wrote this article 4 days ago.

Why Being an Asshole Can Be a Valuable Life Skill https://markmanson.net/being-an-ass...

Nobody can be fucking perfect. Nobody can be fucking everything. Through our lives from the first cry to last breath, we lost certain shits while gaining some shits. I'm not talking about materials and tangible things here. I mean losing shits like ability to understand emotions or loving or being empathetic and etc. But in return for those lost, you may have a superb understanding on different topics and ability of amazing concentration and freedom.

So I'm not saying that you have to be a nasty jerk to be successful. I'm saying you might be a nasty jerk since you are successful. And if you seriously think you need to improve yourself and do something about it, ok good for the rest of people around you.

Will the outcome be good for you? I'm not sure. I doubt it. The older we grow, the higher we reach, the stronger bond to our identify is made. Looking ownself as a total jerk and trying to improve it is probably the hardest task a guy can get in my opinion.

Comments
  • 3
    >>>
    out of all of the Big Five Personality Traits, one of the five stands above them all in determining professional success: agreeableness.

    Or rather, a lack of agreeableness.5

    Basically, assholes make more money. Often, a lot more money.
    <<<
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    >>>

    Now, it’s easy to lament that this is just more evidence of how fucked up the world is, and how the meanest and cruelest in our society are always the ones who get ahead.

    But I think that’s a whiny and immature way to look at it. Just because you are nice doesn’t mean you are good. And just because someone is mean doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.

    In fact, I believe the world needs its fair share of assholes. And that being an asshole is a valuable life skill. What I mean by “being an asshole” is a willingness to be disliked and/or to upset other people. As we will see, sometimes hurting someone’s feelings (or just being willing to hurt someone’s feelings) is a necessity, both for the ourselves and also for the greater good. And I believe that if more of us were able and willing to “flip the asshole switch,” the world would be a better place.
    <<<
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  • 4
    What's the Linus situation? Sorry I was still catching my breath after the python SJW raid
  • 3
    @JKyll Linus is taking a break from linux developement , as he is trying to become less of an asshole..
  • 4
    @aEEEdev huh, smart people are often considered assholes tho.
  • 7
    I really do need to be more of a bitch / care less about hurting other peoples' feelings. I get walked over too much as-is.

    Why? Lack of confidence and the fear of people being angry at me. (Because whenever that happened while growing up, I would get beaten / emotionally abused, and/or have my possessions destroyed or thrown out. So. That's kinda stuck with me...)

    I'm a bit of a sociopath; perhaps I should embrace that a little?
  • 5
    @Root embrace the rage, be one with the dark sideee.
  • 3
    So I think a very important takeaway from this is that it being an asshole is good IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS. Being able to be an asshole when circumstances calls for it is absolutely a good skill, but that is not the same as being an asshole in general. No one says "Sure he's an asshole, but he's our asshole" about the guy that is just always an asshole. There is a lot of hero-worship of jerkwads (the most salient example I can think of offhand being Rick from Rick and Morty) and I think it is terribly misguided myself. I suspect Linus is taking some time off because although his assholery has served him well in some ways he is starting to realize that being too much of an asshole has tons of downsides.
  • 2
    @Root Haha I feel much the same way sometimes. I tend to be a very agreeable and (apparently) empathetic person but I often feel like that empathy is just a bit of veneer over my sociopathic tendencies and I don't really care.
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    @catadoxa I love the fact that "empathetic" is a synonym for "empathic."

    I also love that the etymology for empathic includes "pathos," which is Latin for feeling/suffering/disease.
  • 0
    @Root kinda in same boat. I'm doing my best to embrace my psychotic side before I turn 30 in '19.
  • 1
    "Nobody can be fucking everything" - try me

    No, but on a serious note, who wrote this?
  • 1
    @ScriptCoded the rant is by me :3

    Mark Manson is pretty straight and blunt dude. He wrote that book named "Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck"
  • 1
    @cursee Ah, right :) Personally, I don't see why people would get so upset about him taking a break. I mean, he can't? Then the whole asshole thing... Won't even try...
  • 2
    You guys are confisuing being asshole with having a strong character and being able to say "no". A person with a spine would be able to say no and stand back for his/her decision.

    While an asshole would randomly tell people "suck my dick" or "go drink my cum". Assholes rarely end up well.
  • 1
    @ScriptCoded taking a break is fine. But this whole thing sounds like he is taking a break to meet a psychiatrist.
  • 0
    @wateringdisease I'm not saying Linus is an ethical asshole. But the topics are related and hence shared together.
  • 1
    @JKyll Not everyone.. Please do not assume those are one to one correlated with the handful of famous ones.... Smart people can also be nice..
  • 1
    @cursee Haven't read up on it that much, but that seems bad...
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    @rsync My empathy is mostly a façade. I don't like emotions, and I definitely don't care much about others' feelings. However, if they're happy with me, my life tends to be easier, so I try to keep them happy. (There's also my aforementioned fear of anger, which definitely plays a part.)

    I am typically nice, however.
    Bit of a paradoxical contrast with the above, but I enjoy being nice; I don't do it because of others.

    Basically, I need to learn to be aggressive and angry when needed. I don't know how to do that.
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    @aEEEdev I know, I'm just saying it's not as simple as being an asshole for smart people
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