Having recently moved to New York City, that part of the article hit home for me. NYC is so loaded with talented, successful people—living sometimes literally on top of one another—that it really makes you push yourself. For example, I attended a jazz show one night that included performers on "classical" instruments. After the show, I was chatting with the violinist (discussing whether, and how, improvisation was taught to "classical" performance majors). After a nice chat, I Googled her at home and discovered she has a PhD, two Grammys, she's been on the Tonight Show several times, she plays with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road ensemble, and toured with Stevie Wonder. And she was far from the featured performer; she was just a "hired gun" for that evening's gig. I doubled down on my musical pursuits immediately.
I am honestly curious how you don't instinctively see it as a "dog chasing car" kind of competition.
I think it has to be evenly matched to be a rivalry, although I admit that I'm assuming you're an average hacker news user and not someone who has, say one Grammy and a few (not yet several) tonight show appearances.
I don't find people who are way better than me very inspiring because when the difference is that big, it's probably up to what proteins our bodies are folding moreso than anything conscious we're choosing to do.
What I'd like to see, honestly, is someone really successful that was about as dull as I am. Now that would be inspiring.
Interesting point. I guess I don't tend to look at the world that way, for a couple of reasons. First off, hard work often trumps innate talent. Secondly, life is a mosaic of niches, and I don't have to compete in her niche to be challenged and inspired by her.
And I'm probably not the average HN reader, as I am (also) a professional musician with years of training.
