Here are Eleven Things You Didn't Learn in School

[Bosolai]

As for the President thing, although I really dislike G.W. at this point, he did work hard. Sure, he had help from his pop to get his title, but he did a hella lot more work than kings in the monarchy system. G.W. worked his ass off in high school and college (even though he did drugs, but almost everyone has), and used some networking (albeit Daddy) to get his position. I very much dislike the man, but (in my stubborn opinion, at least) he deserves his office.

Back on topic:

When it comes to success, I can see where Packman is coming from. I want children, I want to be popular and have friends, I want to achieve satisfaction from religion. I've even got a rather Faustian hunger for knowledge, and I measure some of my success by how much I've learned. I also think you shouldn't be allowed to take 3rd semester Calculus if you can't even spell it right, but thats another matter. But the main problem I've got with Packman's success measurements is that everyone has a different scale to go by. Personally, mine is:

Am I content or better?
Am I sufficient enough to be content or better until I die?
Am I making the world a better place?

While "the Man" might have it be:

Do I have more money than my business rival?
Am I making enough money right now?
How young is my girlfriend?

And some hobo could have it be:

Am I alive?
Can I keep on living for another month?
Am I healthy?

Its all in perspective. What might be the way you measure success might not be for others. Each o' them big CEO types gets to have a soulmate who cheats, groupies who want his job, a church who loves his money (meant nothing on the religion issue, only on the fact that he is a member of an organization who loves having donations from him), enough money to buy happiness, 6 kids, 4 of which are bastards, and all are doing just fine having their tuneup in the Betty Ford Center. Those "rich" people are far from successful in my book. The mother who's husband died while she was pregnant had nothing to turn thinks she's unsuccessful because even though she have a job and can support a family, while her daughter loves her and no effort goes unappreciated, she doesn't make 100k a year and thinks its needed cause she read these 11 rules oh-so-long ago. To me, that would be success, but not in the eyes of that woman who thinks she screwed up and could have so much more.

That, and number 11 also bugs me. Most nerds don't have the confidence they need to get to be controlling business-types (not the ones I know, anyway). Only the arrogance. I'm a nerd myself, but I've just been employed with a sweet job as an underpaid actuary, but I love my job anyway because I'd do it for free. Now, I've got a friend who is über-popular (student body president this year) that wants to be president some day, and I know he's gonna work hard enough that he might very well stand a chance. He is by no means a nerd, but some day he's gonna be this country's boss.

[Lockeownzj00]

G.W. worked his ass off in high school and college (even though he did drugs, but almost everyone has)

Once again I'm quite shocked at the bias against drugs. Why is smoking a substance or insufflating a substance in order to change the state of your mind for a certain amount of time contradictory to working hard? Even if the concept of "working hard" itself is kind of flawed? He didn't work his ass off. He's not a "regular guy." He's not a "cowboy." There is no such THING as family values. He wants you to believe he's something hes not--like most politicians.

I want to achieve satisfaction from religion. I've even got a rather Faustian hunger for knowledge...

Isn't this an oxymoron of sorts? :P

Speaking of family values, a lot of those are incorporated in the list--you would all do yourselves good by watching Penn and Teller's Bullshit, Episode 3x02, family values. Lots of insight.

[Bosolai]

The drug thing was merely me trying to say "don't throw the 'he did drugs' arguement" The whole G.W. rant was just saying he worked hard to get his title, not just having daddy do all the work.

As for the Faustian thing, its only an oxymoron if I define "satisfaction from religion" as "satisfaction through Christianity" which I'm pretty sure I didn't do.

And if the Family Values thing was aimed at my post, I wasn't intending to use family values as a general measurement of success. My lists for success are just my list and the lists I'd imagine others would have.

Unlike the writer for these rules, I don't have hours upon hours to spend thinking about what my work implies. I'm also clearly not getting paid for it. So if you think I'm implying something, don't. Cause I'm not. I don't have the time nor incredible motivation to seriously consider all the possible ways my opinions can be interpreted, so I tend to be very blunt.

[Lockeownzj00]

What I meant with the religion thing is, the search for knowledge and satisfaction through religion aren't compatible, that, through the search for knowledge, one would realise it is futile to try to achieve satisfaction through religion; if one is truly knowledgable they would shed their religious beliefs.

it was a condescending atheist remark.

anyway, i think by now we've all made it clear that it was a shoddily made list and to be really poignant you have to think things out. i think that's the point--the list WASN'T well thought out, at all.

[Meister]

*ahem* Let's not get into religion, okay?

Why not? I'm sure if God has a problem with the discussions, He'll solve it his way. Fortunately, I'm wearing non-conducting underpants.

This list is clearly on the surface a speech, a rhetoric, designed to be spoken by one person to many. It is meant to spark ideas, to get people thinking, maybe honestly, about their lives and their futures. I'm reasonably sure he didn't mean for people to get into such a bitter argument, but more of a spirited conversation, with ideas being exchanged peacefully and reasonably.

I think all of you need to read Rule #0 again.

[Mashirosen]

Goddamn are you dumb, Wombat. Don't bother responding to that e-mail I sent you, you clearly just do not get it. So much for that "so shockingly high I can't possibly reveal the actual number for fear of inducing seizures in children, pregnant women, and the elderly" IQ number -- you can't even figure out BANNED = I NO COME TALKEY HERES NO MORE.

Your original ban was only for 21 days, but you just had to 'tard it up and make it permanent by refusing to take a hint. I felt a little bad for you at first, but you've shown yourself to be such a shrieking, stubborn idiot about all this that it's all flown out the window.

GO AWAY. If we hadn't banned you, you probably would've ended up being ostracized out of here anyway because you made yourself hugely unpopular with your condescending, arrogant attitude. You don't remember a poster named Otaku Son because he carried on in exactly the same way and was pretty much run out of here on a rail when the other posters here got fed up enough with his crap. Maybe we should've just let that happen instead, although at this point it seems hard to believe that even total rejection on that scale would've gotten it through to you that YOU ARE A POMPOUS GASBAG INCAPABLE OF ADMITTING HIS MISTAKES. Go on believing you were only banned because of the comforting fiction of a mod with a grudge, whatever it takes to keep that Macy's parade balloon ego of yours afloat. I picture it as the Comic Book Store Guy from the Simpsons, but other artistic interpretations are more than welcome.

Closing.

Edited to add: just to make sure the rest of you understand what I'm talking about and what WanderingBoximaxio did to wrench my nuts so bad, here's RaiRai breaking it on down for you.