Is there something wrong with mediocrity?

[cynatnite]

My sister posted this on FB tonight:

We were never meant to live an average, mediocre life. We were created to leave our mark on this generation.

I wanted to ask her what was wrong with mediocrity. Since when has being mediocre become such an awful thing? I know we can do the best we can each day. Be kind to others, be charitable, and to try and leave a better world behind than when I entered it. At least this has always been my attitude. I've never felt or desired to make a mark on this generation. I think you'd have to be a person of greatness such as MLK for this to happen.

It just seems like we are taught to despise mediocrity. I do think we should aspire to be the best we can be, but if we're like everyone else...that's not a bad thing either.

I'm sorry to ramble so much. I'm not sure if what I'm saying makes sense.

Can anyone offer their opinions?

[HiPointDem]

1. it makes absolute sense to me. ordinary people doing ordinary things are what keeps the world

running, and yeah, we're taught that has no value; we're taught we're supposed to be doing something "great" and an ordinary life = failure.

[elleng]

2. Honest and good and 'medium' sounds fine to me.

[liberal_at_heart]

3. The older I get the more tired I get

of feeling not good enough. Happiness is a choice we make. I've had a dream all my life of having a career in science. So far that has not come to pass. I haven't given up on the dream, but I am tired of feeling like I have failed in some way. What I am learning as I get older is that I have not failed at anything. I am learning to accept where I am and who I am and be okay with just being. And as far as making a mark on the world, some of the best people in the world leave a quiet but profound mark by doing just what you said, being kind to others. I think we underestimate the impact a kind word or act can have on someone. We can impact thousands of people in the course of our lifetime just simply by being kind.

[Skittles]

6. you make a good point, l_a_h

the world could use a few less famous and infamous folk and a lot more everyday kindness

[napoleon_in_rags]

16. You're a gem.

Honestly, the world doesn't need another Einstein. It needs honest normal people living a life that finds pleasure in understanding the universe through science, people walking that path so others can follow. The problems this generation faces, like AGW and resource crunches aren't from the lack of elite minds understanding complex scientific issues, they're from lack of normal people understanding fairly basic ones. Never underestimate your role in having made things better.

[99th_Monkey]

4. American Exceptionalism is a heavy cross to bear. Mediocracy is for

"those people" .. the "others" that we despise.

[limpyhobbler]

5. Not sure but I think it might be just a personality trait or personal preference.

Whatever makes you happy. If that's settling down and relaxing in some mediocrity, I recommend mixing in a little outdoor grilling or barbecuing with that just to keep it interesting.

[Populist_Prole]

7. Always wondered that myself, ever since I was in my early teens

I've found that those of us that are happy with what the Type A-holes call mediocrity tend to bounce through live with a whole lot less fuss and are the happier bunch overall.

I've also found that those who strove to be big shots turned into 1 of 2 types:

1) Insufferable "sore winners"

2) Stressed out disappointed spinners of the hamster wheel.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Somebody has to be average or being exceptional wouldn't count...

note the cynical profundity of a place where "the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are above average."

Camus would be proud.

However, mediocrity in high places is to be avoided-- when remarks were made about Senator Roman Hruska's less than stellar IQ, the reply was that even the mediocre should be represented.

[BlueStreak]

9. Lake Wobegon, where ...

all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

By definition, mediocre means average. We cannot all be above average.

That is a nonsensical as the catch-prhrase, "American exceptionalism". No. We don't have a special place in the world. We have to share this planet with everybody else.

[liberal_at_heart]

10. that's the carrot they dangle so that we will tolerate

the abuse of power. If you work hard enough you can be special, successful, and wealthy. I don't think as many people are taking the bait anymore.

[Zalatix]

11. It is never possible for everyone to be exceptional.

If everyone is exceptional, then that becomes the new mediocre.

A synonym of mediocre is AVERAGE. No matter how good a population gets, there will always be an average group. This is inescapable.

Nobody should TRY to be mediocre, but we are seeing a world emerge in which average is no longer acceptable. Average is looked down upon. Average can't get a job.

The only logical conclusion to this is that there is an agenda to wipe out the average people among us. In two words: population control.

This sounds crazy today, but in 20 years from now it'll be something every AVERAGE person realizes. By then it'll be far too late.

[Jack Sprat]

12. What about all the average people

who have spent their lives making extraordinary efforts on behalf of others? They are only considered average because they didn't achieve great fame or riches. Yet quietly and dutifully they have made everyone that knew them respect them for being extraordinary human beings. I had a neighbor Dad who was one of those people. Middle class, average, and yet a class act from the time he first taught our neighborhood gang to hit a baseball in his backyard.

I had a mother who was very extraordinary and left her mark of goodness on everyone whose life she touched in some way. She wasn't famous or wealthy either.

Both of these people might be defined by mediocrity by some, but they were very extraordinary in leaving a positive mark by those who knew them.

I had another neighborhood mother who was a raised by missionaries in occupied China during WWII. She was an extraordinary neighborhood mentor to all us neighborhood kids in the 1950s.

[reformist2]

13. Clearly you haven't fallen for the "Flashdance Fallacy"... you can have it all!

But can we *all* have it all? That's the fallacy that some don't want to admit.

http://sync.democraticunderground.com/10021243270

[Speck Tater]

14. If we didn't have mediocrity...

.. we wouldn't have had Ed Wood and Plan Nine from Outer Space.

Now what, I ask you, kind of world would this be without Ed Wood and Plan Nine from Outer Space? My friends, let us never denigrate the contribution made by the mediocre among us. Without them our life would not be as rich and rewarding as it is.

[Trillo]

15. They taught us in school mediocrity was to be avoided.

Last edited Mon Sep 3, 2012, 09:36 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm not certain there's anything wrong with mediocrity, but why do our first couple of decades have to be spent in a punitive system of perfectionism, if mediocrity is perfectly fine?