2cool4school high school semantics aside, "be awesomer" is sound advice. Consider the second word "awesomer" (I assume this is the word you don't like, since I can't see anyone with a qualm against "be"), what is "awesomer"?
Or, more to the point, what is "awesome"? Well, something that fills one with awe. But what is "awe"? According to Dr. Dacher Keltner (Born to be Good), "awe" is a feeling of uplifting that one gets when he is looking on things from up high. It's a feeling we get when we suddenly see our world and ourselves in a much larger scope; when we come to some understanding of our place, our path, and our purpose in our universe. Since time immemorial, it's a feeling we've associated with divinity.
It's hard to say what fills others with awe, but to be awesome from your own perspective is to do something that would fill you with awe. To "be awesomer" then is to be do more of that thing which fills you with purpose and meaning and (since your time and resources are finite) to do it at the cost of all the other things that just grind away at your life yet you feel no purpose, meaning, or self-actualization from.
So, what does "be awesomer" mean when translated out of uncool-high-school-faggotnese (and, incidentally, into cult-of-TEDnish)? It means to take a risk, abandon the beaten and grinding path, and to live a life that feels meaningful to you. If you ask me, that's sound advice; possibly irresponsible if you're a parent with kids depending on you, but definitely solid otherwise.
Thanks bbcbasic! You nailed it. I debated using the term "awesomer" prior to posting. Mainly because it's not a real word :-). But, the whole point of the post is to knock people out of their current mindset. "Awesomer" makes you pause for a second and take notice. "Be even more awesome" didn't have the same effect. From the comments, it rubbed some people the wrong way. But, the fact it's even being debated means it accomplished much of what I intended to accomplish with it (cause you to take notice).
I did a stint of selling stuff online. When I wrote the sales copy I thought it was awesome until I got someone else to review it. They pointed out lots of things that were weak or didn't make sense. This was bad for the ego but good for the copy because I improved it.
I think the same approach would be useful for a YC application. Get other people to critique it, and iterate and improve. The trick is picking good reviewers. Probably more people can review copy than a YC application but I hear YC founders are generally friendly and like to help.
I recently made the mistake of doing a rush application for my local TedX and didn't get picked for the audience. I should have applied the "awesomer" philosophy to that.
You should have seen the YC hackathon, it was pretty clear they took the youngest applicants. Speaking like that is appealing to high school and college kids rather than using more formal language. He wasn't addressing journalists and CEOs, he was addressing kids. I think "be awesomer" is a fun way to phrase it for that target audience that is less likely to come across as dry or put them to sleep compared to alternatives like don't bury the lede.
I do like fun, goofy language but I hard a hard time with it in this context. ..probably because I went into reading the article with a certain attitude that didn't match "awesomer".
that's the first thing i noticed but i kept reading. I went to a career fair (i'm still a college student) at my uni. An agency printed, as on of the subheadings of their one sheet flyer, that they were a team that is dedicated to being remarkable. A large portion of the rest of that flyer spoke of the agency's values. I moved on to the next booth pretty quickly.
Comments
stopped reading at 'be awesomer'
2cool4school high school semantics aside, "be awesomer" is sound advice. Consider the second word "awesomer" (I assume this is the word you don't like, since I can't see anyone with a qualm against "be"), what is "awesomer"?
Or, more to the point, what is "awesome"? Well, something that fills one with awe. But what is "awe"? According to Dr. Dacher Keltner (Born to be Good), "awe" is a feeling of uplifting that one gets when he is looking on things from up high. It's a feeling we get when we suddenly see our world and ourselves in a much larger scope; when we come to some understanding of our place, our path, and our purpose in our universe. Since time immemorial, it's a feeling we've associated with divinity.
It's hard to say what fills others with awe, but to be awesome from your own perspective is to do something that would fill you with awe. To "be awesomer" then is to be do more of that thing which fills you with purpose and meaning and (since your time and resources are finite) to do it at the cost of all the other things that just grind away at your life yet you feel no purpose, meaning, or self-actualization from.
So, what does "be awesomer" mean when translated out of uncool-high-school-faggotnese (and, incidentally, into cult-of-TEDnish)? It means to take a risk, abandon the beaten and grinding path, and to live a life that feels meaningful to you. If you ask me, that's sound advice; possibly irresponsible if you're a parent with kids depending on you, but definitely solid otherwise.
The implication of 'be awesomer' is of course that what was written in the applicaiton is already 'awesome', at least in the mind of the applicant.
However awesome you think you are you need to appear more awesome than that to get into Y.C. :-)
Thanks bbcbasic! You nailed it. I debated using the term "awesomer" prior to posting. Mainly because it's not a real word :-). But, the whole point of the post is to knock people out of their current mindset. "Awesomer" makes you pause for a second and take notice. "Be even more awesome" didn't have the same effect. From the comments, it rubbed some people the wrong way. But, the fact it's even being debated means it accomplished much of what I intended to accomplish with it (cause you to take notice).
I did a stint of selling stuff online. When I wrote the sales copy I thought it was awesome until I got someone else to review it. They pointed out lots of things that were weak or didn't make sense. This was bad for the ego but good for the copy because I improved it.
I think the same approach would be useful for a YC application. Get other people to critique it, and iterate and improve. The trick is picking good reviewers. Probably more people can review copy than a YC application but I hear YC founders are generally friendly and like to help.
I recently made the mistake of doing a rush application for my local TedX and didn't get picked for the audience. I should have applied the "awesomer" philosophy to that.
Now I am going off to work on that robot...
You should have seen the YC hackathon, it was pretty clear they took the youngest applicants. Speaking like that is appealing to high school and college kids rather than using more formal language. He wasn't addressing journalists and CEOs, he was addressing kids. I think "be awesomer" is a fun way to phrase it for that target audience that is less likely to come across as dry or put them to sleep compared to alternatives like don't bury the lede.
yup -- you pretty much nailed it :)
I do like fun, goofy language but I hard a hard time with it in this context. ..probably because I went into reading the article with a certain attitude that didn't match "awesomer".
oh well.. :)
very true, although the writing style and angle taken towards the included multimedia content could suffice right? rather than just making up words
that's the first thing i noticed but i kept reading. I went to a career fair (i'm still a college student) at my uni. An agency printed, as on of the subheadings of their one sheet flyer, that they were a team that is dedicated to being remarkable. A large portion of the rest of that flyer spoke of the agency's values. I moved on to the next booth pretty quickly.