Difference between revisions of "List of reasons something isn't popular or successful"

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** barriers to keep out new entrants
 
** barriers to keep out new entrants
 
* considering things more narrowly on topics I care about (e.g. it's true that math itself is pretty popular and people do get paid to research it. it's just ''my kind of math'' that is completely unknown.) Whereas for something like [https://kk.org/thetechnium/scenius-or-comm/ mountain climbing] or meditation, I am an outsider so everything blends together.
 
* considering things more narrowly on topics I care about (e.g. it's true that math itself is pretty popular and people do get paid to research it. it's just ''my kind of math'' that is completely unknown.) Whereas for something like [https://kk.org/thetechnium/scenius-or-comm/ mountain climbing] or meditation, I am an outsider so everything blends together.
* I have higher standards for my interest and lower standards for other interests, e.g. probably none of the mountain climbers in the [https://kk.org/thetechnium/scenius-or-comm/ scenius article] were getting paid to do it.
+
* I have higher standards (e.g. "be able to make a living doing X") for my interest and lower standards for other interests, e.g. probably none of the mountain climbers in the [https://kk.org/thetechnium/scenius-or-comm/ scenius article] were getting paid to do it.

Revision as of 03:52, 13 January 2021

(i probably need a better title for the thing i am trying to point to)

For a few different values of interests X, I often have thoughts like "Why isn't X more popular? Why doesn't X have a community around it? Why aren't there people getting paid to do X? Why is Y a thing when X isn't?" I want to understand this better, in particular by listing out reasons this can happen.

  • from this comment by Eliezer Yudkowsky (for anywhere with a stream of rent/where gullible people exist):
    • heavy competition
    • barriers to keep out new entrants
  • considering things more narrowly on topics I care about (e.g. it's true that math itself is pretty popular and people do get paid to research it. it's just my kind of math that is completely unknown.) Whereas for something like mountain climbing or meditation, I am an outsider so everything blends together.
  • I have higher standards (e.g. "be able to make a living doing X") for my interest and lower standards for other interests, e.g. probably none of the mountain climbers in the scenius article were getting paid to do it.