Success

Everybody talks about success. But success is an ingeniously mean concept. It has been introduced when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden Eden (interesting enough the Bible does omit that point). It was introduced for the sole purpose of making us unhappy! It works very simple. It is tied to an achievement that has to be above the median (if one wants to be particularly unhappy one can choose quartiles) of your peer group. So as a student you have to have above median grades. As a scientist you have to have publications that are above median in number (at least). As a girl at least half of all males have to want you. As parents your children have to be above the median. So far so good. Everybody can be above the median here and there. However, the real trick here is that it is applied simultaneously along all dimensions. So you have to be above median earner, thinker, lover, dancer, etc. And as you can guess the chances of being a looser increase exponentially with the number of dimensions!! So there is basically statistically no chance any one can be successful.

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