Why people nowadays are so fine about mediocrity?

Matheus Uchoa
Aug 24, 2017 · 4 min read

Basically here in Brazil, the decisions about college starts in this time of the year. For being short, time to listen to mediocrity. People in this country are used to choose only three ways of being safe in life. Law, medicine or engineering. All the courses are resumed to these ones. All the other options are crazily criticized by normal and traditional people. It seems you are not in hold of your future. You cant be a black sheep.

Last year, I was in a exchange programm in Arkansas. What I could take notice, it was that people are truly different from their peers. Of course, you would pick the right and safe way around, but it’s based on what you love, not by what others think its right.

I’ve met a guy in this programm, and, indirectly, I’ve learned a lot with him. How different are our cultures. After the high school, his dream was to be a farmer. For me, this is like a shock moment. Farmer? In the 21st century? It was crazy for me listening to this desire. It was totally opposite what I’ve been living in Brazil. This is a true case in how our mind shapes our reality. No matter if you like or not, your peers will change the way you see the world.

That’s the main reason America is the best place to develop technology. Because failure is the thing. You are not repudied if you don’t make it right sometimes, you are influenced to go beyond. Now, you would ask me though. How this failure system works in Brazil? Our culture is based on adding a bigger void to the gods. The popular, intelligent, and awesome people. They are treated as real gods. For people it’s beyond their capacity to think they could. Here, we consider champions born, not made.

Besides, you will never listen of work ethic around here. The whole ecossystem is messed with the luck shit. The whole ecossystem is living by what their peers would like. The whole ecossystem is being guided, not making people following them. Work ethic sounds like obssessive around here. You would never say somebody had the merit. He was just in the right time in the right moment. You would even say, “he is a lucky guy, he was born like this”.

So how you could develop technology in Brazil if even our main talents are ignored? A lot of really good ideas come from here. But they die before reach the sky. “It’s just too crazy, people would never buy or use this for free”. Living by guessing, instead of measuring. Living by being a victim of the ecossystem. People are throwing opportunities in the trash, because stuff seems dangerous. Stability is dangerous. But why? Why would you say that living the same life without taking risks is dangerous? A true paradox.

Thats why we are living in the best era of all time. Stability its not the best way to go, because we’re living in an era of uncertain. So, you need to embrace change as a way to evolve. Because when a crisis comes, stable people are not used to chaos. It means that the ones that are always improving, the ones that always living by what they love, the ones that are seaking for making the difference for a better world will always survive.

Social media exists because you need to embrace uncertain. Now, you can share your business or even your life to not hundreds of people, but billions. A 10.000.000 times growth. You can share what you want, whenever you like. Thats the power of globalization in our lives.

People are not embracing this opportunity though. They prefer not exposing themselves to uncertain. Because it hurts, it must take you out of your comfort zone. It envolves your vulnerability. Screaming to the whole universe. Hey guys, here’s a fraud. Here’s another crazy person trying to make a difference. That is the price of being noticed. Starting as you fraud to ascend as a legend. But the journey hurts. Oh, it really hurts. You must have the guts to follow it.

That is the life you want to live?

Guts to shout, hey everyone, look at me, I’m different. As George Orwell showed in 1984, different results in crime, you cannot be out of the standard. Mediocrity is the right journey. A minion among billions of minions. But what about standing in the crowd, but what about being the purple cow or, even the black sheep. It feels good to seak for the best. Why? Cause you are never satisfied, there’s no finish line. It’s a lonely way, but it is a must-follow.

Imagine with me though. I don’t know what is your religion or what you believe, or you don’t. But agree with me in one single part. We are here, in Earth, for a purpose. The legacy is just a line between doubt and action. Action it’s the best medicine for fear. As Isaac Newton told us in his first law, a body tends to stand in the state he was just now. A little moviment could change all though. And the question I would leave to you is this. I want you to think. What have you come to this world to achieve?

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