Do you believe in miracles?
Life is absurd…
When thinking about my existence and my place in this universe, there’s no sense of direction that can ease my angst.
Unlike the rubrics and structures we follow in school, there are many things in this world that are unknown.
Like what are black holes?
What is consciousness?
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
And so on…
Yet, despite all of the different unknowns out there, there’s this one concept that hasn’t left my thoughts, and it has to do with the notion of dreams.
Mainly, to what extent is something actually impossible?
If it is the case where there are sets of things out there that are impossible for us to accomplish, how can we distinguish between one having a realistic assessment of future probabilities versus one just having a fixed mindset?
How do we know if something is impossible for everyone, if something is impossible for some of us, or if something is impossible for just ourselves? And to what extent should we be delusional about our aspirations?
Elon Musk is a dreamer.
When Christie Nicholson first met Elon at a college party, she claimed that he would just talk nonstop about electric cars.
Ever since he was 16, after reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he was determined to make humanity a multi-planetary species.
In interviews, he said that everything he has been doing since that point has been to fulfill that mission…And look where he is now.
From a young age, Elon was determined to make his vision a reality, even though any rational person would just call him crazy.
If you heard about Little Elon’s ambitions before they manifested, you would deem them as impossible.
Throughout his journey, there have been many naysayers who doubted his vision, but Elon didn’t listen to the noise.
He had faith in his abilities, his mission statement, and his vision, and he carried through to the very end.
Yeah sure, I’m aware that there are things with high probabilities and things with low probabilities.
I know that, if one wants to work at a prestigious company, enroll in a prestigious graduate school, or do something that a lot of other people want to do, then this achievement would be tasked as something with a low probability.
But when diving into the details, what makes something have a low probability to begin with?
Is it the number of applicants?
The quality of applicants?
The quality of the individual?
All of the above?
For all three of these variables, which one has the largest influence on if something has a low probability or not?
Regardless of the number of applicants, it always comes down to the quality of the individual and the number of applicants that are either similar or better to that individual.
If you’re a super qualified candidate, then your chances of winning will be higher than the acceptance rate.
Acceptance rates, and thus, probabilities, are not constant.
I’m currently interviewing for jobs with less than a 1% acceptance rate, and when looking at this low number, one would deem this as close to impossible to achieve.
But after one dives into their quality as an applicant compared to the percentage of applicants who are of similar quality or better, is it really that low of a number?
Of course, this depends on the individual, but it says something about if what we label as impossible is really impossible to begin with.
The main reason why I’m going on a tangent about this is to expose the notion that things are impossible or close to impossible.
After diving into the details and understanding the dynamics behind what makes something have a low probability, the impossible starts to become more possible.
In the majority of cases, we label something as impossible because the probability in our heads is zero…But does anything really have a 0% chance of happening?
No.
If something has a low probability, should this deter us from aiming for it? What draws the line between something we should aim for and something we shouldn’t aim for?
There have been times in my life where I didn’t aim for something because I thought that I would fail.
My fear of failure was because the thing I wanted had a low probability of achieving. Little did I know, if I just did the necessary preparation to increase the quality of my candidacy, then the probability of me achieving this goal wouldn’t have been so low.
Oftentimes, we don’t aim for things because we dismiss them as impossible, but this isn’t the right way to go about things.
A life that’s worth living is a life filled with dreams…For a life without dreams is an empty existence.
At least in my life, I’m currently interviewing for “impossible” jobs, and I fell in love with a girl that comes with “impossible” logistics.
At the end of the day, I have two choices.
I can either a) dismiss these things as impossible and give up early or b) figure out how to increase the odds of me getting them. And I see no point why one should prioritize the former over the latter.
But at the same time…
I tell myself that I can get into this company.
I tell myself that I can live happily ever after with this girl.
However, it can very much be the case where I’m wrong.
It could be the case where I’m delusional, where the probabilities are low for a reason, and where the things I’m trying to do are, indeed, impossible…
But what’s the point of thinking this way?
Even if this were true, what’s the point of not trying?
What’s the point of not going for what you really want?
Even if that means you can be hurt in the end…
I’m going to take that risk, and I encourage you all to do the same.
I guess only time will tell if this is the right approach.
JL