I was generally aware of who Tim Ferriss was when coming to his post, but my first understanding (from the title and early paragraphs) was along the lines of “You people may think Tim Ferriss is a loud-mouthed crank, but you’re not any better!” and not “What the great Tim Ferriss has done, even a schmuck like you can do too!”, which is probably closer to your intended meaning.
You mean ” I suspect anyone here is less different from Tim Ferriss than they’d like to be able to justifiably claim”? It’s not very clear, but I suspect the intended meaning is closer to “Tim Ferriss is not that far above you” than to “Tim Ferriss is not that far below you” … no?
(Or if the meaning depends on the content of the four links, then I dunno, I haven’t went and reread those).
I think the sticking point is the word “like”. This implies they want to be different from Tim Ferris. In the “not that far above you” interpretation, that could just mean they’re making excuses, but it’s not an interpretation that jumps as easily to mind.
I agree it implies wanting to be different from Tim Ferriss, but it doesn’t say in which direction. And things like
What is one thing he’s done you haven’t that probably you could do, and what is the explanation you invented to yourself for not having done it?
… makes me think SuspiciousTitForTat meant the not that far above you” interpretation. Though the fact that both you and wedrifid don’t makes me doubt.
SuspiciousTitForTat: if you have three people scratching their head and coming up with opposite interpretations of your opening sentence, you may need to make your writing clearer :)
(at this stage, this subthread is more interesting as a case study in unclear communication than as discussion of the article...)
Oh no, I agree that the post means what you think it means. I was guessing at why people interpreted it that way. I should have added that it’s not an interpretation that jumps as easily to mind when the first sentence alone is read out of context.
I was generally aware of who Tim Ferriss was when coming to his post, but my first understanding (from the title and early paragraphs) was along the lines of “You people may think Tim Ferriss is a loud-mouthed crank, but you’re not any better!” and not “What the great Tim Ferriss has done, even a schmuck like you can do too!”, which is probably closer to your intended meaning.
Curses! The Illusion Of Transparency strikes again!
Really? That interpretation doesn’t seem compatible with the first sentence.
You mean ” I suspect anyone here is less different from Tim Ferriss than they’d like to be able to justifiably claim”? It’s not very clear, but I suspect the intended meaning is closer to “Tim Ferriss is not that far above you” than to “Tim Ferriss is not that far below you” … no?
(Or if the meaning depends on the content of the four links, then I dunno, I haven’t went and reread those).
I think the sticking point is the word “like”. This implies they want to be different from Tim Ferris. In the “not that far above you” interpretation, that could just mean they’re making excuses, but it’s not an interpretation that jumps as easily to mind.
I agree it implies wanting to be different from Tim Ferriss, but it doesn’t say in which direction. And things like
… makes me think SuspiciousTitForTat meant the not that far above you” interpretation. Though the fact that both you and wedrifid don’t makes me doubt.
SuspiciousTitForTat: if you have three people scratching their head and coming up with opposite interpretations of your opening sentence, you may need to make your writing clearer :)
(at this stage, this subthread is more interesting as a case study in unclear communication than as discussion of the article...)
Oh no, I agree that the post means what you think it means. I was guessing at why people interpreted it that way. I should have added that it’s not an interpretation that jumps as easily to mind when the first sentence alone is read out of context.