Since I have invited you to Celebrate Mediocrity, I owe you an explanation.
I selected the term “mediocrity” to contrast with the idea of “greatness,” an expression of The Hive Mind. This is to distinguish the standards of sublimity, excellence, beauty, inspiration, etc. that The Hive Mind decrees as “greatness,” from those excellent, beautiful, inspiring works that I encounter in my real life. I call “mediocre” (with a generous dose of irony) the efforts of commonplace, approachable, knowable humans with lives and experiences that the vast majority of us can relate to in an authentic way.
These mediocre expressions are more often the valuable, precious, sacred reflections of individual humanity. When I celebrate mediocrity, I celebrate the sacred.
(Note, I use this term only for wholehearted expressions; never in its alternate understanding of halfhearted).
So why use a term like “Mediocrity” anyway?
First, it’s a word that’s a bit startling to see applied to something good. I relish little transgressions like these. Most people require a bit of startling to jar them out of their otherwise conventional and conditioned ways of seeing. I deeply value independent thought and I would enjoy seeing more of it.
Also, the term carries the semantic venom of contempt for the middle ground. I find that a bit disturbing. Statistically the middle ground commands the vast bulk of the normal distribution. ~68% at the core in fact.
![Celebrate Mediocrity](https://i0.wp.com/www.dirtsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Normal-Distribution.png?resize=640%2C320&ssl=1)
So, statistically, that includes YOU. I deeply hope that you do not hold yourself in such contempt!
The Gravity of our Plight
In truth, I am convinced our current condition reflects something far worse than disdain for the 68%. Our globalized Hive Mind (which commands the attention of ~ 8.069 Billion People…as of 10/27/23) is dominated by Western Capitalist Industrialized “civilization.” This runaway firestorm of ravenous exploitation and consumption is finely tuned to extract the greatest financial reward from the smallest investment. With our astonishing visibility throughout this vast interconnected web of humanity, the competition for attention is ferocious. And for humans, nothing captures our attention like extremes.
Thus, the Hive Mind roves ceaselessly throughout the most rarified heights of greatness (and the most terrifying depths of horror). It desperately scours for information in the farthest reaches. What it finds it then broadcasts throughout the humanverse in the battle to command that scarce resource of attention.
I submit that the Hive Mind is only interested in the ~0.2% that represents the very furthest extremes of greatness and horror which lie on the fringes of the distribution, three standard deviations from the vast bulk of 68%. Thus, mediocrity today comprises ~99.7% of everything and everyone.
Chances are extremely high that neither you nor anyone or anything that you dearly love within your own personal manifestation in this physical world is of the slightest interest to the Hive Mind. And yet we willingly allow it to command our attention, program our minds, and govern much of our daily lives.
If you hold mediocrity in contempt, you condemn the vast bulk of human life. That would including YOU and everyone and everything that you love.
When you celebrate mediocrity, you say ‘Yes’ to life.
Dirtsmith’s Challenge
Groucho Marx once famously joked, “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.
As a punchline for laughs, that’s hilarious!
As a genuine expression of a human being’s self-regard, it is heartbreaking.
So I ask you – “Do you really want to belong to a club that would NOT accept you as a member?”
I sincerely hope that you have the self-regard to answer “NO!”
Should you answer “NO”, I ask why you would allow that club any power over your mind or your life. And I invite you to consider the challenge posed in Creation for Creators.
The Daily Stone
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.dirtsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IMG_4495.jpeg?resize=640%2C640&ssl=1)
Brilliant post! Well written, flawless logic, insightful reflections inviting a healthy dose of skepticism towards the ‘values’ of modern Western culture. Pleasure to read you.
Wow M! I am so flattered and delighted that this resonates with you ☺️ Thank you immensely for your exceptionally kind feedback 🤩
Hopefully I can continue to offer material that you can appreciate as much!!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
I agree with the previous comment.
Excellent post!
Mediocrity as you describe, is a nice club to be a member of👍
No one is really mediocre. We are all the same.
And greatness lies indeed in the mundane!
Hi Dirtsmith, only just seen this post and I loved your use of that Groucho Marx quote! That one was always one of my favourites. (Coincidentally, we watched “A Night In Casablanca” on Sunday and it must be 20+ years since we last watched a Marx Bros film)
Over time, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate more and more the simple, everyday aspects of life. Society nowadays tries to promote “exalted” psychologies which lead to haunting, lifelong fears of being “mediocre” and ordinary. Shedding this social programming is the best thing a person can learn to do in their lives. Life becomes far happier as a result.
I have a very simple lens that I use to interpret the otherwise incomprehensible world around me.
Greed and Ego
Anytime I want to know why something bad is the way it is, that rubric will quickly reveal an answer satisfactory to Occam’s Razor.
It gets a little easier as we hurtle towards the event horizon of human “progress.” Once upon a time you might only be able to focus on one of those options. At some point in the past before late-stage capitalism usurped total dominion over society, there were things that JUST COULDNT BE BOUGHT. Those days are behind us. Now Greed can buy you all the Ego validation you could ever desire.
So we find ourselves in this position so that some other people can make a LOT of money.
Welcome to Ayn Rand’s utopia.