Bill Gates: What do you think of this?

[daisyrose]

Bill Gates: Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.


Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Ru le 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they' ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

[Fibonacci]

Thats some good Advice!

[spot]

God, it's just one of those days today. It was written by Charles J. Sykes.

No, this list didn't originate with Microsoft head Bill Gates. (It's frequently cited on the Internet as having come from his book Business @ The Speed of Thought, but it didn't.) Why it's attributed to Gates is a mystery to us; it doesn't really sound the least bit like something he would write. Possibly, the item the Internet-circulated version of the list generally ends with ("Be nice to nerds") struck a chord with someone who views Gates as the ultimate successful nerd of all time.

One version that appeared on the Internet in June 2002 asserts this is the text of a commencement speech given by Bill Gates to the graduating class of Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia, California. It isn't — he didn't give such a speech, and folks at that school are mystified as to why they've been dragged into this apocryphal story.

Nor is this list the work of Kurt Vonnegut, another person to whom authorship has been attributed. A clue found in those versions ("From a college graduation speech by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.") explains why folks want to lay these random words of wisdom on his doorstep: In 1998, the Internet was swept with a narrative that has come to be known as the Vonnegut sunscreen speech. That work of inventive fiction was actually the product of Chicago Tribune writer Mary Schmich, but Internet-circulated versions claimed it was a college graduation speech given by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut thus became associated in the minds of some people with pithy advice to young adults.

This list is the work of Charles J. Sykes, author of the book Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, Or Add. (The list has appeared in newspapers, although not necessarily in this book.)

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/liferule.htm

[spot]

Sorry daisyrose, that was bad of me and I apologise. I'm entirely in the wrong and I shouldn't have complained. It's one of those days.

[koan]

Don't make me come over there, spot

down boy! bad dog!

[spot]

Originally Posted by koan

Don't make me come over there, spot

down boy! bad dog!

Don't you start... I'll have your other ankle off if you carry on.

[daisyrose]

Hey Spot
Thanks for the input. I use snopes.com often but did not check this out. My original question: "What do you think of this?" still holds tho...even if Gates is not the author..the sentiment is still worth considering I think...glad you posted as you did thanks Daisy

Makes sense to me
Thanks Daisy

Whether it's correct or not, it still rings true.

[spot]

Originally Posted by daisyrose

My original question: "What do you think of this?" still holds tho...even if Gates is not the author..the sentiment is still worth considering I think...glad you posted as you did thanks Daisy

I disliked it so much that I've re-written it as advice for my own children and for any others out there reading.

Rule 1: Life is not fair, but it can be rewarding. Skirt round injustice without letting it fester, concentrate on what satisfies your curiosity.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem but individuals will. Focus on the people you touch. Touch as many as you can help fulfill themselves, and feel good about doing it.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school, and chasing it will be the worst distraction from living that you can ever do. Gathering riches is a snare, avoid it like the plague.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. Your best option is to never have one. Work for yourself at what interests you, excel at it, you'll make a sufficient living whatever it is.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Make the most of your time while you're doing it. Meet people and relate to them.

Rule 6: If you mess up, come back and talk about it, don't hide away feeling shame or distress, it's what we're here for and you've seen that we're good at bringing a helpful perspective to your problems. That won't ever change.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from thinking that a career was essential to success. Avoid the rat race, that's good advice, take it.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. The trick is to recognize what's a win and what's a loss. Discriminate in your choices, make the right ones as often as you can and you'll not get stuck repeating those later.

Rule 9: Life is divided into semesters. Take your summers off. Very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself, it's the best reason on earth to avoid working for anyone else but you. Your life's your own time and your only time, use it wisely.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. For goodness' sake never ever get a television however much pressure you're put under to conform.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll get called one too. Nerds are fine.