What Impresses People?

[SuburbanFarmer]

Yep. Gotta work on the delivery. Politics is not a merit-based system.

[Martin Hash]

I'm not a world-famous psychiatrist or anything, but...

Good to have you back. (I won't be whacking you again, even when you deserve it.)

[DBTrek]

Another possibility...

Plus the three-period ellipses - whole Alexander PhiAlipson demographic ain't gonna tolerate that shit.

No siree bob!

[Martin Hash]

Yep. Gotta work on the delivery. Politics is not a merit-based system.

Yeah.

My opponents don't do podcasts, nor YouTube videos, or post to political Facebook pages, or even express a cogent opinion. I'm better-looking, and people pay attention to me when I speak. Politics is definitely NOT a meritocracy.

p.s. Note we broke the Max Visitors record yesterday. That was me.

[heydaralon]

Yep. Gotta work on the delivery. Politics is not a merit-based system.

Yeah.

My opponents don't do podcasts, nor YouTube videos, or post to political Facebook pages, or even express a cogent opinion. I'm better-looking, and people pay attention to me when I speak. Politics is definitely NOT a meritocracy.

p.s. Note we broke the Max Visitors record yesterday. That was me.

Martin as I've suggested before, if you wanna land that serious trim you need to bring the beard back. What happened to the sexy mysterious Martin that I saw in that Dark Forest brewery picture? We need more of that guy. The beard gave you a dangerous vibe that women and posters can't get enough of. The eye patch is a start, but in order to bring in the views we need to invent some kind of legend story behind it. I'm gonna go with you got the patch from shrapnel after a heroin deal with some Afghani Warlords went wrong in the Himalayas. You need to start wearing more leather too. A holster with two pistols in it at all times would also add to the badass factor.

[Martin Hash]

Assless chaps? When my wife, Gwynne & I, were at Pride Day in Seattle, assless chaps were the thing.

[heydaralon]

Assless chaps? When my wife, Gwynne & I, were at Pride Day in Seattle, assless chaps were the thing.

I have often wondered about the practicality of assless chaps. If its cold, you ass will literally freeze. If it is hot enough, your buttcheeks will get sunburned and the pants will cause you to sweat. Maybe they would be ideal attire for a street fight. I'm not sure.

[MilSpecs]

Who here thinks lots of people could have done what I did if they had the time/money/inclination?

Your achievements are incredibly impressive. I don't think anyone disputes that. It took great intellect to collect so many advanced degrees and licenses. However, you aren't giving enough weight to the second part of your achievement equation; bolded above. There are many highly intelligent people. There are many highly motivated people. There are many wealthy people. There are not so many people who are also willing to take the time necessary to collect degrees, or to practice each profession and then give it up for another. There are not so many people willing to give up family time to do so, either, and I have never read you give credit to anyone else for your achievements. If no one else, your wife and children are also responsible for your success. Presumably your parents also have some measure of credit. Your professors, perhaps as well.

You're also presuming that what is of the utmost importance to you is of the utmost importance to everyone else, and that intelligence is the essence of leadership. Leaders give credit where credit is due. They support others in achieving.

Finally, it's often posited that the most difficult achievement is in overcoming the self. How many times in life have you met someone who is nowhere near as accomplished as you are and yet that person has a measure of awareness, or compassion, or charisma, that you admire? It takes more work to achieve that than academic success, which is why so few people are spiritual/emotional giants as opposed to intellectual giants.

We all have our gifts. Hopefully in measure to our shortcomings.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Great post.

Martin, if your answer to her question is "none", then I'd suggest that you take some time to think about that.

[katarn]

It is an impressive academic and professional achievement, no doubt.

I imagine the lack of enthusiasm you see comes from one of two places:

1. People think you're trying to show off or otherwise belittle them by highlighting your own monumental achievements. They see it as a power grab for social prestige and resent it.

2. People see it as superfluous. By this I mean they may view it like video game achievements that are nice, but meaningless when it comes to impacting the world. Sure, you got your law degree and can practice law - but are you any good at it? Where's the beef? What cases might they know you from? Sure, you're an MD, but who have you treated? What lives have you saved? What procedures have you innovated? Great, you have a CompSci PhD but what technology empires have you built? AKA - are you actually good at things, are are you simply good at being licensed for things?

Could be plain ol' jealousy too - but usually, we're jealous of people who succeed at things we desire but fail to achieve. How many folks out there really want to be Doctor/Lawyer/CompSci PhD's and failed at it?

This is solid, especially point 2. It shows a high degree of intelligence to have done what you have, but there is nothing in that alone to draw ordinary people to you as a candidate, and certainly no reason for it to make you famous. How many people do you think are googling trifecta-licensed dudes to be awed by you? Having the licenses and degrees alone does not make you well known, you need to operate with them to become famous.