Mediocre - A Manifesto/Meditation/Ramble (Part I)

Striving for excellence is bunk. What in Satan's name does it matter if I realize my full potential or not? What on earth does it mean for a carbon based life form to have "potential"? That a project was completed on time and under budget? That a race was won? That a cure was developed? That disaster was averted? That dreams were realized?

Do you know that M31, the Andromeda Galaxy is hurtling toward us at several hundred thousand kph and will collide with our Milky Way Galaxy within the next few billion years? ...And I'm supposed to get worked up about how well I'm going to do in the next race? Or that the guy next to me in the paceline isn't puling his weight. In a couple billion years the Sun will start fusing Helium nuclei to form carbon to generate energy, wiping out all life on the earth...And Somehow I should be concerned about the fact that I haven't won a race in years...Or cared that I haven't?

People are an odd thing; smelly, selfish, violent, hairless monkeys. Why are we so impressed with ourselves? So we can write, talk and make fire. Big deal. So people have split and fused atoms, and gone to the moon. This is important why? Oh yes, and we've constantly improved on techniques to blast our fellow hairless monkeys into chunky kibbles. What innovative, inventive, potential realizing monkeys we are.