90% of Everything is Cr@#!

I recently heard about a little thing called Sturgeon’s Law, which states:

90% of everything is crap

That’s it. Short, to the point, and fairly accurate.

(Pardon the language; it’s not me, that’s actually what the law says.)

To be fair, this is not a law in the same way that “if you jump off a building you accelerate towards the ground at 9.81 m/s² until you go SPLAT!” is a law. Rather, it’s just a cool thing some dude named Sturgeon said a while ago that people really liked.

From Wikipedia:

“The phrase was derived from Sturgeon’s observation that while science fiction was often derided for its low quality by critics, it could be noted that the majority of examples of works in other fields could equally be seen to be of low quality and that science fiction was thus no different in that regard to other art.”

From Sturgeon himself:

“I repeat Sturgeon’s Revelation, which was wrung out of me after twenty years of wearying defense of science fiction against attacks of people who used the worst examples of the field for ammunition, and whose conclusion was that ninety percent of SF is crud. Using the same standards that categorize 90% of science fiction as trash, crud, or crap, it can be argued that 90% of film, literature, consumer goods, etc. are crap. In other words, the claim (or fact) that 90% of science fiction is crap is ultimately uninformative, because science fiction conforms to the same trends of quality as all other artforms”

What Does This Have to Do With You?

Whether you agree with the exact “90%” number, you probably agree that a large percentage of stuff you come across is crap.

• 90% of the websites and blogs out there are crap
• 90% of the stuff on TV is crap
• 90% of the books being published are crap
• 90% of the service providers you might choose to hire are crap.

That may seem harsh, but, if anything, the ability of the internet to allow anyone and everyone to get their voice out there, hang a shingle, and proclaim themselves an “expert” or a “professional,” has made Sturgeon’s Law truer now than when good ol’ Sturgy coined it in the first place. With so few barriers to entry, anyone, regardless of quality, can get their stuff out there.

If you accept the premise that 90% of everything is crap, then you can make three important adjustments to accelerate your path to success:

1) Be Committed to Being in the Top 10%

Here’s a tough question: With what you do, are you in the top 10%, or are you in the 90% crap?

Are you sure?

Are you positive…?

Maybe you are, maybe you’re not. But I know one thing: everyone can get better and better at their craft, so whether you think you are in the top 10% or not, resolve to get even better.

Being “better than average,” sucks. If you want to do something great, then do what it takes to be in the 10% of everything that doesn’t suck.

2) Don’t Discount New Experiences Too Quickly

I applaud you for trying new things – workout routines, books, cuisines, jobs, hobbies, etc. However, too many people are willing to write of an entire category of experience just because things didn’t go well the first time.

“Oh, I tried sushi once, and it was awful. I’ll never try it again!” Really? You’ll discount all sushi forever because of one bad experience? Maybe it was a bad restaurant. Maybe the chef was off. Maybe you just picked a bad roll.

Remember, if 90% of everything is crap, then there’s a good chance that your first experience with something new may fall into the crap category.

Be persistent and try, try again (at least once or twice).

3) Develop Resources to Find the Top 10%

While the internet has accelerated the speed of “crap proliferation,” it has also given us more resources than ever to filter out that crap.

I firmly believe that one of the most useful skills a professional can have, right now, is the ability to find, filter, process, and apply information from the internet.

The answers are out there. You just need to find it, and then be able to filter the 90% crap out so only the beautiful 10% remains.

I am constantly stunned by people who either:

1. Seem paralyzed by a lack of information when they could easily find the info they need on-line
2. Believe everything they come across on-line

There is a delicate balance you must find. Become an internet archeologist and learn how to search for information and develop skills and sensitivity to discern the garbage from the valuable information.

There are a lot of ways to do this, and it takes some practice, but here are three to get you started:

Find review and aggregate sites that you trust – If you follow certain bloggers or certain sites, you get a handle on how their ratings and recommendations go. With a handful of sites you trust, you can let other people do the filtering for you.

• Learn how to read between the lines – Don’t believe everything you read online! After you spend a lot of time looking for info, you’ll be able to tell when people are exaggerating, being intentionally vague, or not telling you the full story. Fine tune your “B.S.” detector and you will be able to find that key 10%.
• Look for corroboration – Just because one site says something, that doesn’t mean it’s true. Unless something makes a lot of sense to you, I would avoid buying in to a lone claim out there online. See if other reputable sources are saying similar things.

Of course, you also want to be able to find the top 10% offline too, and the principles are the same. Find trusted sources, learn to read between the lines, and look for corroboration.

In Conclusion

Sturgeon’s Law is not an absolute. Heck, it might not even be remotely true. However, if you act like it is and take the three steps listed above (make sure you are in the top 10%, don’t discount new experiences too quickly, and develop the ability to find the top 10%), you will improve your chances of standing out from the crowd and succeeding at whatever you do.

P.S. Hey, if you like this post, why don’t you share the love and click the Facebook “Like” button at the top of this page…?

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By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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