Hey there,
Stew is everywhere.
He’s on Hacker News and Reddit comment threads. He’s replying on Twitter with an anonymous avatar. Everything Stew says falls into the following categories:
- What works for others won’t work for Stew. Got an inspiring story to share? Stew is the first to (erroneously) call out survivorship bias.
- Stew is unlucky, and others are lucky. When Stew sees others succeed, he thinks, “Must be nice to have [insert anything that person has, which Stew does not].”
- Stew is always a critic, but never a creator. He thinks he’ll create something someday, but in reality, he’ll never live up to his own standards.
- Stew won’t bother trying, because it’s not worth it. The odds are too stacked against him.
The reason Stew is so annoying: There’s a little Stew in all of us. It’s normal to think others are luckier than we are. It’s normal to think those who succeed are different in some fundamental way. It’s normal to think we could do better, if only we had XYZ advantage.
But it’s hard to shut Stew up because Stew is somewhat right: Luck is a factor, each person has their own unique challenges, and even the person who made the thing could do better.
Stew is technically right, but basically wrong: He could do it. He’ll never find out, because he’ll never try. He’ll always be the victim, never risk responsibility, and never expose himself to criticism by another Stew.
Next time the Stew in you opens his pie-hole, repeat after me: Fuck off, Stew!
Aphorism: “Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” —Sigmund Freud
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