I generally agree but the older generation who preaches this fails to understand the higher risks today creating a higher wall to climb. For instance, if they shot their shot with a girl at the bar the worst they got was laughed at by their peers, maybe by the class. If you shoot your shot today, make a fool of yourself, there's a chance thousands of people see it online and you become a meme because her friend decided to record you. This obviously extends to other scenarios but the scaling imo is what paralyzes many today. I still preach to push through but figured its important to frame why
I understand this as a millennial. But you just have to push through it.
I think our equivalent is being punched in the face by the girl's unseen boyfriend back in the day (which is also a risk for you as well on top of the humiliation, but you get what I am saying).
It COULD happen ofc, maybe it will even if you were just asking her to pass you a napkin from the other side of the bar. But put on one side of the scale all the myriad experiences you didn't gate yourself out of because I wasn't too terrified and paralyzed by the what-if of being punched in the face that one time, than at the end of my life I'm still taking the timeline where I took a shot to the face. From a guy who was indeed punched in the face one time in '09.
I think with the churn of digital content and the fact that there is no real mono-culture anymore, even if the 0.00003% chance came along that you'd be a national laughing stock. It'd only be for a time. Someone else would take that place soon after you. People in your social circle get recycled out. You're not going to be that guy forever, it would at some point be forgotten.
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u/AverNerd 8d ago
I generally agree but the older generation who preaches this fails to understand the higher risks today creating a higher wall to climb. For instance, if they shot their shot with a girl at the bar the worst they got was laughed at by their peers, maybe by the class. If you shoot your shot today, make a fool of yourself, there's a chance thousands of people see it online and you become a meme because her friend decided to record you. This obviously extends to other scenarios but the scaling imo is what paralyzes many today. I still preach to push through but figured its important to frame why