Do we have the power to be successful?
Being successful, in all or some relative sense of the word, is an attribute that a plethora of individuals, if not every single person on the surface of the earth, wants to imbibe. Career success, which is heavily hinged on monetary success, however, seems to be the dominant theme in the chase for success. There are quite a number of books, opinions, and what have you that give steps on how to navigate life in order to achieve success.
Nevertheless, it just seems that true success is limited to a particular few, and success is not what an individual can choose, chase, and achieve; success itself chooses those that become its ambassadors.
So, do we solely have the power to win this ever-present race, or is the ball forever beyond our courts?
DETERMINISM
Determinism is a philosophical view that posits that we do not have true control over our actions and the subsequent results that our actions produce. Here, our sense of control over the trajectory of our lives is simply an illusion. The contrast to this view is the libertarian free will view, which argues that we actually have true control over things that happen. An objective approach will however illuminate that the clime of things does not support an absolute liberal reality, and this makes arguments for determinism very strong and convincing. It might seem that life is simply beyond our control.
HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
Historical materialism is one of the key tenets of Marxism, or Marxist Communism. It explains that the happenings and occurrences of society and the world can be traced back to the economic climate of such a society. This argument might seem fairly reductionist in its approach, but it can be fairly valid. Using this theory extensively, the economic status of a family can very well determine the career status and wealth of the children that emerge from such a family. A child that emanates from a low-income household would most likely, under normal circumstances, not be able to attend a good school—if any at all—for proper education. This singular fact might affect (determine) the trajectory of such an individual’s life. This might affect such an individual’s chances of getting into a tertiary institution and consequently restrict such a child from high-paying occupations. More dangerously, the child might not be able to find himself in circles that will have positive influences on his mindset, lifestyle, and intellect and might be more likely to find himself at the far opposite end of the spectrum. Using this scenario for a high-income family, the opposite is the case. A clear analysis of this indicates that the only mistake the child made was being born where and when he was born.
THE UNCONTROLLABLE CONTROLLING ALL
The fact that factors that we cannot influence can have a dangerously high influence on our lives is real. Sometimes, it might be difficult for us to accept this fact, but this might just be the case. In the book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell examines the lives of some particularly successful people, whom he termed outliers, and factually (with the use of real data) deduces that factors that these people did not have control over were integral propellants that carried them to the high stages of their lives. The book uncovers seemingly miniscule factors such as dates of birth, place of birth, social conditions, economic conditions, geographical location and conditions, culture, and other ordinarily unreasonable factors that affect and determine a person’s success.
The basic argument that we all might have against this is that all that needs to be done to achieve success is to simply work hard, and then true success will be achieved in whatever endeavors you put your heart into. Well, Outliers has a quite sound explanation for this trite axiom. The boom and success of a field (or profession) are highly determined by factors that you cannot control, and for you to find yourself in a booming field at the perfect time with the perfect experience is also somewhat beyond control. Outliers explain that the opportunity to work hard in order to gain the perfect experience is also highly determined, given that all other factors are in place for a person to become an outlier. The book gives the explanation that to be quite successful at something, you need at least 10,000 hours of work and practice, but still, the ability to achieve such hours is highly determined. The famous example of Bill Gates and his miraculous access to computers was used as an illustration. If Bill Gates were born earlier or later, didn’t attend the school he did, or the school didn’t manage to get a computer (which even universities then did not have), he would not have become Bill Gates, the outlier. All of these factors are things that Bill did not have control over.
Morgan Housel, in The Psychology of Money, also explained that becoming wealthy is sometimes determined by miniscule factors. “Not intelligence, education, or sophistication. Just the dumb luck of when and where you were born,” he said.
THE GENTLEMAN MURDERER: Who might not have been a murderer?
Pierre-François Lacenaire, the inspiration for Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, was quite a terrible criminal. He was a murderer of the worst tiers imaginable. Lacenaire’s story was examined in the book Saint and Sinner: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece, by Kevin Birmingham. Lacenaire was from a quite well-to-do family and was quite educated. However, his family fortunes collapsed, and this led him to a life of crime and wrongdoing. In the book, Maître Brochant told the jury during Lacenaire’s prosecution that Lacenaire was “a man of gentle and peaceful manners who had been destroyed by misfortune.” Lacenaire grew impoverished after having to drop out of school after his family lost their fortunes. He got into a duel, where he later killed the opposition, and then went to jail, where he became totally corrupt. These factors propelled him to become who he became. There is a high probability that if Lacenaire’s family fortune had not collapsed (which he had no power over), he would not have become what he became.
As Chernyshevsky noted in the book, “Carbon, depending on its environment, can become diamonds or coal.”
WE DO KNOW
Most individuals are quite aware that some factors that we cannot influence can have a big influence on us. This has been termed luck. Most would simply refer to it as God in action. This phenomenon has, however, become a driver of religion. People want to be on the side of God, who can influence such uncontrollable occurrences in their favor. Whether it is sheer luck or an act of God, we do know, even though we might want to deny it, that sometimes the possibility of being an outlier is largely undetermined by us.
CHOOSING THROUGH HOPE AND FAITH
While things are definitely determined, I do believe that there are things that we have the power to influence, and our knowledge of determinism should not deter us from doing so. There is a form of compatibilism. It would seem like we would never be outliers, but maybe all we have to do is continue hoping that one day it will all fall into place while we put in the work. Maybe what we ought to embrace is simply the blind faith that things will be better and that we will one day become what we want to be.
Want to understand the context of the writer? Read this.
