The Goldilocks Zone

At BJJ training yesterday, the teacher made the point that BJJ is like Goldilocks. At the extremes, your opponent (or you) may have an advantage, but in the middle it’s the opposite. An example is your leg positioning - if your legs are together, they’re strong, if they’re wide, they’re strong, but there’s a range in the middle where they’re weak. And BJJ is a game of finding and exploiting those ranges.

This reminds me of the Dose-Response relationship. The effect of medicine matters on the quantity. There’s a spectrum where effectiveness works.

It’s true in life as well. On the spectrum between “self-reliance” and “no one is self-made,” both extremes are suicidal. Try living life by either not depending on anyone in any way or by not doing anything for yourself. I don’t think you will trade your current life for that existence.

But both are examples of practical delusions.

The more you believe that you need to be self-reliant, the more agency you will have. The more you believe that it’s impossible to be self-made, the more connection you will build.