When people first learn about the SSH, their inevitable first question is “what am I?” To which, my response is always the same.
I don’t care.
It doesn’t matter to anyone else either.
The utility of the SSH is outward-looking. It’s not a foundation for a self-help program.
The second question, which is not quite as inevitable, but nevertheless quite common, tends to revolve around one of two similar themes.
How are [insert SSH rank here] created?
Why do [insert SSH rank here] behave the way they do.
Now, I understand that these questions are natural, they are common, and they appear to be pretty much inevitable. But that doesn’t render them any less stupid or pointless.
First of all, all of the theoretical explanations are wrong. I can just about guarantee they will be inevitably be incorrect, and I don’t care if one is relying upon evopsych, psychology, science, reason, religion, philosophy, or dream-revelation. This is due to the size of the cohorts, the fractal nature of the SSH, and the fact that most self-appointed explainers are Gammas. For every explanation given, a falsification can be provided.
Second, even if correct knowledge of the How and Why can be attained, its primary use is almost certainly going to be to excuse, rationalize, and justify the behavior of oneself or others.
Focusing on motivations is almost always an intentional evasion of dealing with the actions that were motivated. For example, once one starts delving into the motivations of why some underage thug shot and killed a defenseless gas station clerk, we already know that the purpose is to relieve the responsible party of responsibility for his actions.
Third, and most important, it is the actions, and their predictability, that matter. Knowing How and Why is useless if you don’t know What. And if you know What, you have no real need of How or Why for anything but an ex post facto explanation.
Now, it’s of no concern to me if people who never had anything to do with developing any of these concepts wish to belatedly attempt to insert themselves into the subject by “explaining” concepts that they neither understand nor successfully apply to their own lives, but don’t expect me to have any interest whatsoever in whatever it is they happen to produce. Because while it’s not impossible that they might come up with some relevant ideas, it’s highly unlikely.
At the end of the day, I suspect most discussions of How and Why will eventually reveal themselves to be fundamentally solipsistic in nature, and provide little more than another excuse for the explainer to talk about himself. Which is why I think it is more intellectually profitable to focus on deepening our collective knowledge of the SSH, further honing its predictive models, and expanding its panoply of useful applications.
"...and the fact that most self-appointed explainers are Gammas."
Instant chuckle, haha!
Hi, as someone new to ssh, I want to ask any former deltas gammas or omegas how they managed to walk away from their self induced negativity and start on the path to success.