Something I Wrote in 96′

By Daniel Miessler on June 27th, 2009: Tagged as Philosophy

Intelligence may be seen as a mastery of a series of life’s compromises. One must be versed extensively in the extremes of all spectrums and be comfortable working for short periods of time in them. The key is finding the perfect location between the extremes while maintaining the ability to become the epitome of either end.
  • Prof. Faust

    That sounds vaguely Aristotelian.

  • Hung

    I'm not sure I understand.

    “Intelligence may be seen as a mastery of a series of life’s compromises.”
    So you think being smart relates to knowing a lot about life. Makes sense.

    “One must be versed extensively in the extremes of all spectrums and be comfortable working for short periods of time in them.”
    So you think being smart relates to knowing a lot in general. Makes sense.

    “The key is finding the perfect location between the extremes while maintaining the ability to become the epitome of either end.”
    So the key to being perfect is to be… perfect?

    Take this however way you want to, but I didn't like this piece. I don't consider it philosophy. You took simple concept and tried to make it extravagant.

    Your bio says you're a thirtysomething. So you must have been a twentysomething when writing this. Perhaps you've never heard of the phrase, jack of all trades, master of none. A small modification would make it infinitely better than your piece.

    “A Master of all trades, is a master + unnecessary writing.”

  • http://danielmiessler.com/ Daniel Miessler

    It's not about “jack of all trades, master of none”. If you think that was the concept then you missed it. It's about being able to slide along a scale of extremes for any given scale, but to choose an optimal place to rest happily under normal circumstances (based on your environment).

    So, take aggression, for example. You need to be able to understand, and live, the world of a pacifist. And at the same time you should be able to become a temporarily remorseless killer (say, if your loved ones are in life-threatening danger from an attacker). And you must be able to move fluidly between these extremes.

    And the key is finding a compromise between these two poles during regular life, based on the danger level in the area.

    But keep in mind–this isn't some sort of thing to live by or something–just an idea.


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