h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In some circles success would be measured by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I am sure there must be an entry on this somewhere in the Guide… I don’t know where though!

I personally believe that there are two measures of personal success. One is objective, and is usually the judgement of others of you against whatever marking scheme they deem to be useful in this endeavour. In our present society that would seem to be how much money you have, or how much money you have borrowed to buy all sorts of useless consumer goods. The other measure is subjective and is how you perceive your own success. This is much trickier and depends on the individual’s outlook. For example, a pessimist will always see anything they achieve in a bad light and an optimist will look for the best in everything that occurs. In addition, your own outlook is educated by the happenings in your life, so if you have struggled against adversity then your achievements may seem that much sweeter to you, than for someone who has had everything handed to them on a plate. Therefore, yes, two people can live identical lives and one feels successful and the other doesn’t.

Speaking personally, I would rather be content in my personal relationships than have lots and lots of money… though if you are offering, money would certainly help! I find that my own feelings of success are very much bound up with my achievements in the workplace, rather than my achievements in my own personal life, and I believe that is because I have a very strong work ethic, I spend an awful lot of time at work , and generally my self esteem is linked to my performance in the work place.

The note about passing on our genes being a success – ummm, personally speaking that is not an issue, because I can’t. If I thought like that, I may as well hang up all possibility of being a success, and I have no intention of doing that!!

>>two people can live identical lives and one feels successful and the other doesn’t<<

But for their lives to be identical, wouldn't their mindests have to be identical?

Mal:

Not in the least, imho. Twin siblings can grow up with the same parents and advantages, yet one may commit suicide because of their unhappiness, and the other feel blessed, even if they have nearly identical jobs, spouses, homes, and levels of success.

The Mind Set is exactly what separates those who feel successful from those who do not.

But that would lead to different choices, meaning their lives wouldn't remain identical...

If by 'living identical lives', you mean making identical choices, then yes. But, no two people can make simultaneous, identical choices. Sometimes only one person can fit through a door at a time. Only one can get to a phone booth first. Two people buying the same model of computer will walk away with separate units with different flaws or different lengths of use before failure.

By identical, I'm presuming the more generalized version of the term. Identical twins can marry another set of identical twins, and make nearly identical choices like buying side-by-side homes, sending their kids to the same schools, etc.

Yet, their mindsets may be different. One twin may feel obligated to follow the same decisions as the other and resent the pressure, even if they end up following suit. Slightly different health problems, or catching colds and flus at different times, one twin losing their job while the other retains theirs. Or, both could make their best stock picks and one loses their shirt.

Even if the mindsets start out identical, chaos theory demands that they will diverge again and again. If the mindsets stay the same, one will not be sad while the other is content. If the mindsets diverge, as they most likely will, even if other facturs balance out, one may well be happy and the other discontented, don't you think?