Loy

I have one warning for the author tho. Frats are societies and as such they are regulated by a hierarchy. Don't ever forget it. You don't need to be a leader right away, but you certainly want to avoid the bottom of the ladder. There is - always - at least one goofy in every group.

I want to be social and party and so on.

You probably just want a shortcut to girls. I'd say go for it, experience things by yourself. But remember that your adhesion to a frat (or anything else for that matter) won't do everything for you. Status is determined by the way other members treat you.

By the way, "being good with crowds", "dancing", etc: it's a smoke screen. Don't focus on that. All you need is to be liked by the leaders (aspire to become one).

The first mistake you can make is trying to please them by doing everything they ask. You'll see the majority of people will try to please them this way. Avoid this trap.

Use your smartness and some boldness. Be active, make it your own experience, don't be passive and wait to be fed. If you are active and bring something with your personnality and energy, it'll be hard not to like you. Be around the right guys. A couple of social psychology books might be useful as well. It's a good challenge.

You'd kill a random person in the street for a world without alcohol, and you think PG statement is "extremely, unbelievably selfish". Why the idea of sacrifying yourself instead didn't come first ?

"Dogs bark but the caravan moves on." -- Arab proverb

I like reading such theories in the same way I like reading Sci Fi. They are fun for the adventurous mind, they can also be a source of inspiration.

Indeed. It was a very pleasant surprise to get on the HN front page on a first blog post. I must be a lucky guy ;)

http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/

However, a startling fact was discovered by the researchers from the University of Iceland: Guðlaugur’s fat is almost like seal fat. It is more solid and two or three times thicker than human fat.

When we say "night owl", it is fair to assume we mean someone that would stay awake late into the night without any kind of social stimulation. Nobody will be tired if they're going to a party with tons of people and loud music, but most people will eventually get tired if they are alone. Night Owls usually enjoy the deep solitude and quietness of the night.

"Besides, there is no such way to gain admittance, or give defence to strange and absurd doctrines, as to guard them around about with legions of obscure, doubtful, and undefined words : wich yet make these retreats more like the dens of robbers, or holes of foxes, than the fortresses of fair warriors"

-- John Locke

There is no "one fits all" solution. Even if Army has worked for you, it doesn't mean it'll work for everybody else.

For instance, Army would be the worse recommandation you could give to hypersensitive folks, who are paying their exceptionnal creativity with almost perpetual depression. They are invaluable assets to the society if they manage to find the right channels to express themselves. The training of an infantry man seems a wasteful pathway to this kind of personnality.

Army has also the tendency to reveal great men only under great circumstances, when bureaucracy is eventually bypassed because of the dramatic scale of the events, and everything has to be rethinked. Napoleon arised during the French Revolution era, Churchill and De Gaulle during World War 2, but they would never have without the right context.

My cousin went to Irak and he doesn't think about it as a worthwile cause today. He left the ranks as soon as he could, and he is glad to be back in the civil life where he finds the opportunities to grow as a human being much more interesting, at least in our current times.

The term "complete failure" is more revealing about your draconian idea of success. You should take a look at your own words : "they have never found their Holy Grail" [therefore, they joined the ranks of Academics as a testimony of failure].

If you're running after the Holy Grail, you have no choice but to be a hero. What kind of pressure is that ? In fact, most of the answers are in front of you, in the way you express yourself.

For instance, the myths of the Holy Grail and Tantalus are ones of insoluble challenge and dilemma. Therefore, when you are wondering if the Holy Grail exist, where it is, and if you'll ever reach it... You are probably asking the wrong questions.

Instead, you should ask yourself : "Who am I ?". Do you want to be rich, or do you want to "beat the markets" ? That's 2 different things, one is a mere consequence of the other. Where is your priority ? As it's not clear from your writing, I suppose it's not clear in your mind either.

According to your comments history, 100% of your posts have been about defending Apple against criticisms. I almost never check the history of users, but in your case the tone of your message was so identifiable that I did it instantly.