Standard Pace Is for Chumps
“Individual talent is too sporadic and unpredictable to be allowed any important part in the organization of society. Social systems which endure are built on the average person who can be trained to occupy any position adequately if not brilliantly.”
Stuart Chase, the Proper Study of Mankind
In his blog post, Derek Sivers said: “He taught me “the standard pace is for chumps” - that the system is designed so anyone can keep up.”
The program for the mass is designed for everybody to catch up. K-12 education is for chumps. A four year college program is for chumps. Skip years. The default audiobook/podcast/video speed is for chumps. Double the speed. “The estimated time for reading” in blog posts is for chumps. Start from the end and read faster.
There should be no speed limit. Great people have found a way to go faster when others have told them no.
Alexander Hamilton asked the president of his college if he could complete his studies in only two years after he heard of another young man, Aaron Burr, who graduated from the College of New Jersey at sixteen. When the president refused, he enrolled in another school, King’s College in New York City, which is now called Columbia University.