Comments by "Thump Er the Sweaty Fat Guy" (@SweatyFatGuy) on "Is the West Too Comfortable? - Gad Saad \u0026 Zuby" video.
-
11
-
@Alexander Dean thats cool. Ya know my sister got very good grades in high school, then nearly flunked out of psychology at the state university. I did at best meh in high school, went to the military, then went to school for mechanical engineering and automotive technology while working a full time job. I had a 3.8GPA when I quit about 4 credit hours from a degree. I didn't need it.
My second ex wife is rather book smart, but almost completely inept when it comes to social interactions, problem solving, and she is moderately ok at spatial skills like backing up a trailer. More of a skill than an intellect thing backing up trailers.
I have learned far more in the real world than I ever did in school, and I don't have to learn 'shit' I do not need to know in the real world either. I can focus what I learn easily, and apply seemingly disparate ideas or processes to solve problems. Its good not being in the box engineering puts you in.
I build old cars for fun, not for a living. So the schooling is now useless, since I only went to get paper that said I know what the hell I am doing. I tested out of nearly everything, only really learned how to rebuild transmissions and run an alignment rack.
The engineering gave me the math I needed to figure things out, and a couple interesting ideas, but mostly it was designed to put you in a box of this works, this does not.
Not knowing it 'doesn't work' is often how you come up with solutions to things others can't. People can't fly. Orville and Wilbur thought otherwise. Tungsten works for lightbulbs when everyone else thought it was impossible.
What is my point? Well despite having only part of the engineering math, I have still been able to figure out quite a bit in areas that interest me. Like making ethanol fuel, making cars run exceptionally well on it, and then getting better mileage on ethanol than you can on gasoline. Engineers say it can't be done, and yet I am doing it.
What you go to school for does not define you, and really its more of learning the process of learning and thinking critically, then being creative about the solution that gets you somewhere above the herd. Plodding along on the well worn path will keep you inline, getting out into the bush, cutting your own trail through the snow, while it is harder, it can be more rewarding than following the herd.
It seems to me that Zuby and I are similar in one way, we do not confine ourselves to any one thing. We like to do many things, we get proficient at them, then incorporate what we learn from that into other areas.
Normally I am not overly fond of entertainers, they are usually not overly bright, self absorbed, and ignorant of everything other than acting or singing/performing.
Then you get the likes of Joe Rogan and Zuby, who are interested in what other people say and think, who want to know what they know or think. Like me, they are inquisitive and curious. Rogan has managed to make bank doing his thing, it takes a crazy amount of work to do stand up. I know, I did that for a while in the early 90s. I liked building cars more so I did jobs I had to do to earn money, like being a CNC programmer/machinist and other factory jobs.
Not all of us are motivated by a lot of money in the bank. I really don't give a damn about cash other than money allows me to buy car parts I cannot make myself or trade for. As long as I can live and not have to worry about where its coming from or how I can pay bills to support myself and my car projects, I don't care how much I have.
Similarly, the car thing is not about the cars, they are not status symbols to me, they aren't bling to show off how awesome I am to others. They are the medium in which I apply my artistic and mechanical energy. Its what I do with the cars that does it for me, the building is one process, the tuning is another, then there is racing or driving and maintaining them.
They are representative of my knowledge, skills, ability, and motivation, and I build them to impress me. If you don't like fast old GTOs and other cars, I don't care because I happen to love building, driving and racing them. I don't make money from them either. I have other sources of income.
In case you can't tell, I had a rough life, abuse growing up, lots of beatings, PTSD since I was 8 or 9, two wars (that felt like going home) two divorces that left me homeless for two years each time, and being set back to zero 8 times since 1987 when I graduated high school. My life has been full of violence, and I narrowly escaped death so many times I can't even remember them all.
I travelled the world, was engaged to an Arab girl 30 years ago, still in touch with her and our lives have been interesting. Been to four continents, Asia, Europe, and Africa, and somewhere around 40 countries. I have a chunk of Berlin Wall from when I was stationed in Frankfurt back in 1989, I have sand from the Arabian desert, rocks from Korea, and a host of memories to go with them.
If I ever show myself in one of my videos you will see I am not a small man, I am built like a silver back gorilla, only 5'8 but huge and I can lift heavy shit. You do not get that way from an easy life. The muscle did not come from a gym, but from my jobs, doing heavy lifting in conjunction with math and spatial skills.
I know all about being poor, broke, victimized, discriminated against because of my skin color and my stature. I know what it takes to earn and achieve, and what it requires to overcome and be something of an outlier. I can identify with Gad Saad too, as people have tried to kill me many times in my life.
Also I know that we are all in different circumstances, different situations, have different problems, and our experiences are unique to us. Any car guy will tell you that no matter how much we know, someone else knows more, and others know less than we do. Its the people who know fuck all but claim to know all of it that are a problem.
When you discover your car is nowhere near as fast as you thought it was, it humbles you. Same with any sort of martial art/MMA, you learn by losing, and you improve by working your ass off.
The people with easy lives are missing out, because they are not equipped like those of us who have had a rough, arduous, dangerous life. I could have done without the abuse and so many close calls though.
So what he earns and what his grades were don't matter much to me. What he does with what he has, now that is what gets interesting.
2
-
1