Careers are like Nightclubs:

The advantage is with those who get in line earlier (i.e. have more experience / started working before you / are older) and those who have inside contacts (i.e. have a better who’s who of the company’s inside politics). To move up in line, you have to wait for someone else to leave the nightclub. This game is rigged in favor of older people.

However, there are backdoors for shortcut access: these games are rigged in favor of youth (i.e. those with a solid understanding of emerging tech). Just as the back door at a club is open to the folks working on lights, audio, logistics (all the stuff that seems confusing to the folks in line), so too do careers offer opportunities to advance faster when you master a newer technology.

The more this technology is confusing to the “line people”, the more it could be to your benefit to master it to get an edge. E.g. your parents typically as you for help with newer tech, they won’t be mastering this domain. It also won’t make sense to get career advice on the newer backdoor tech from the “line people”.

- George Mack

2 Types of Envy (Jan Crusius):

Malicious Envy - entails hostile feelings, thoughts, and action tendencies aimed at harming the superior position of the envied other

Benign Envy - entails feelings, thoughts, and action tendencies aimed at improving the outcome of the envier