Thread by @extradeadjcb

here are two identical bell curves, separated by one standard deviation

we talk a lot around here about "failure to distinguish the general from the particular", but it goes both ways

normal people live here

here, the distributions are only weakly predictive - a lot can happen! what can you say!

if you are normal, your irl experience has taught you that it's not just immoral but *dumb* to generalize too strongly here, where you live

& you are correct

if you are +1SD, you live here

you still see a lot of blue here, which tantalizes - clearly blue can do well in this world, the blue you meet seems pretty normal, maybe we are Not So Different

a little harder to defend, but still a good way to live, if you live here

if you're exceptional, though, you live here, & the differences are much harder to ignore

this is also where almost all important things happen

lots of other newsworthy things happen here, mostly bad/sad things

if anyone has visited a place like this, you can't help wanting it to be different, you're desperate for a solution - it's like hell

It's very, very stupid not to generalize here, & when people refuse to it's very frustrating

these places are also where viral social media phenomena happen, so if you live on this segment of the curve & see this all day long, social media is an intensely validating place to be

is that a good thing? idk

when the normie tells you to touch grass, he is inviting you to meditate on this