Why you should embrace mediocrity.
+ Imp announcements
Hey
Hope you are having a great 2024. One of my focus for the year is to bring things together and create a better integrated experience for you. And with this focus, here are a few important announcements:
The newsletter (annual) subscription/membership gets synced* with your Nextbigwhat subscription - i.e. if you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you also are a subscriber to new Nextbigwhat - which hosts big ideas across a range of topics (AI to mental health)
The newsletter is being rebranded to BigIdeas - consistent with newly launched BigIdeas App and our red-eye focus on bring you Big Ideas from the web !
Indian members are having a tough time buying the subscription due to Stripe’s issues. Go ahead and use this link (you can use UPI). The subscription price increases Jan 27th.
Starting jan 20th, the newsletter will be a daily one bringing you a range of topics during the week (AI to productivity), along with corresponding idea link on Nextbigwhat. Since the subscription between the two is synced, it will be a consistent experience for subscribers.
*Only applicable to annual subscribers.
OK. Now that we are done with the announcements- let’s get back to today’s BigIdeas.
Why you should embrace mediocrity
It takes determination and it also takes real courage to be ordinary. – Crispin Thurlow
Sociolinguist Crispin Thurlow presents a compelling argument for embracing mediocrity in a society that constantly pushes us towards superiority.
In his TED talk, he explores how language and marketing tactics feed into our status anxiety, leading to a cycle of comparison and discontentment. Presenting BigIdeas from his talk:
The Power of Language
Language can be influential and often slippery.
It’s used to promote notions of superiority and comparison, from ‘elite’ hotel rooms to ‘premium’ products, creating an illusion that superiority is easily obtained.
Status Anxiety
Modern society bombards us with messages about excellence, distinction, and success.
This leads to what philosopher Alain de Botton terms ‘status anxiety’, a worry about not being good enough or always needing to be better than we currently are.
Understanding Mediocrity
Most people will live an ordinary life due to the simple law of averages; not everyone can excel at everything.
The notion of mediocrity needs rethinking; it essentially means existing between two extremes – being average or unexceptional.
Illusions of Superiority
‘Premium’ in marketing strategies taps into our natural tendency for social comparison.
However, these comparisons built on illusions don’t make us feel good for very long and often work against our own interests—a phenomenon sociologist Pierre Bourdieu called symbolic violence.
By the simple law of averages, most of us have to live a life more ordinary. – Crispin Thurlow
Related BigIdea:
How to be more confident and calm in your communication?
‘There’s nothing wrong with being uncomfortable. The problem is with your discomfort at being uncomfortable.’ – Professor Christian Wheeler Discover the ABCs of anxiety management, a research-backed approach to managing communication anxiety.
 | A guest post by
|