Wow, there's a lot of insight here. While you mentioned not to take this too seriously, my gut reaction is that you take it more seriously than is advertised.
> it just doesn't matter all that much.
In the real world, it doesn't matter at all. Finding cause/effect correlations between SAT scores and lifelong behaviors is folly.
> Everybody has their 1600 SAT or Ivy League degree or IMO gold medal or past startup or open-source project, and so you can't measure yourself by your accomplishments. And so, if you're smart, you start measuring yourself by whether you're pleasant to be around, or whether you make the lives of the people around you easier, or whether you can understand & make users happy.
This is both refreshing and sad. Refreshing because you've recognized that life's qualities are much more important than life's quantities. But, it's utterly sad, because my kids can explain this concept to anyone who asks, and they're in elementary school.
In my world, "not being an ass" or "helping others less fortunate" is considered an accomplishment. You should certainly measure yourself with your accomplishments, just make sure you're measuring what counts.
> it just doesn't matter all that much.
In the real world, it doesn't matter at all. Finding cause/effect correlations between SAT scores and lifelong behaviors is folly.
> Everybody has their 1600 SAT or Ivy League degree or IMO gold medal or past startup or open-source project, and so you can't measure yourself by your accomplishments. And so, if you're smart, you start measuring yourself by whether you're pleasant to be around, or whether you make the lives of the people around you easier, or whether you can understand & make users happy.
This is both refreshing and sad. Refreshing because you've recognized that life's qualities are much more important than life's quantities. But, it's utterly sad, because my kids can explain this concept to anyone who asks, and they're in elementary school.
In my world, "not being an ass" or "helping others less fortunate" is considered an accomplishment. You should certainly measure yourself with your accomplishments, just make sure you're measuring what counts.