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General Interest > Philosophy, Sociology & Psychology
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Success and Succession * 1
    #29678317 -

Success may be the outcome we want. If we are trying to exercise regularly, learn a skill or complete a project, it matters whether we achieve that aim. But success is not the whole picture, especially when the answer to “Did I succeed?” is no.

An unsuccessful attempt still leaves us somewhere. We may have learned what made the attempt difficult, changed part of our surroundings, gained some familiarity, or found that our approach needs revising. None of this turns the attempt into a success. It tells us what conditions we now have to work with.

This is where succession offers a helpful perspective. Each attempt begins from what previous attempts have left behind, and its result becomes part of the starting point for what follows. Instead of stopping at “I did not succeed”, we can ask what this attempt changed and what we can change from here.

Success remains the aim. Succession gives us a way to keep working towards it when an individual attempt falls short.


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I am whatever Darwin needs me to be.


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Re: Success and Succession [Re: sudly] * 1
    #29678342 -

I’ve been thinking about what happens after we ask, “Did I succeed?” If the answer is no, that tells us something about the aim, but it doesn’t tell us much about where to go from there.



That’s what I’m trying to explore with succession. We begin with conditions we’ve inherited, change something within them, and then continue from what that change leaves behind. The weights stored in a chest are a starting condition. A cut in the wood leaves a shape that the next cut has to work with. Identifying a leaf incorrectly might lead us to notice a feature we can use when looking at the next one.

I don’t think this makes an unsuccessful attempt a success. Success still asks whether the attempt achieved its aim. Succession asks what it left behind. That seems like a helpful question when the answer to the first one is no, because it lets us consider what has changed and what we can do from here.


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I am whatever Darwin needs me to be.


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Re: Success and Succession [Re: sudly]
    #29678367 -

a good way to connect the words up


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:brainfart: _ :finger:

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Re: Success and Succession [Re: sudly] * 1
    #29678377 -

sudly said:
But success is not the whole picture, especially when the answer to “Did I succeed?” is no.



This is so well said, what a nutshell right there, gracias.

I work in the mental health field, and this sort of thinking is right up my alley. Working with lots of folks who feel like an utter failure, because they have failed according to metrics they've been conditioned to put their self-worth in.

Of course, I myself have felt like a failure many times. I'm starting to wonder if there is a "little me" that sets a goal, and fails to achieve it, while simultaneously there is a "Big Me" or even a "BIG WE" that has its own, superior objectives which inevitably win out. Which is reassuring, if true, and then I need just work to adjust my perceptions until they align with the BIG.


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All communication
is pattern
and rhythm

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Re: Success and Succession [Re: Blue Cthulhu]
    #29678454 -

keep on heading in a good direction


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:brainfart: _ :finger:

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Re: Success and Succession [Re: redgreenvines]
    #29678471 -

which direction is that


--------------------
All communication
is pattern
and rhythm

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Re: Success and Succession [Re: Blue Cthulhu] * 1
    #29678551 -

it is many directions - both familiar and strange

were it just what is familiar, then the freshness of renewal would be missing.

does that help a bit?

I think the question is more valuable than any answer could be, is the journey not a quest?


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:brainfart: _ :finger:

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Re: Success and Succession [Re: redgreenvines]
    #29678639 -

Success and Succession

Success tells us whether an attempt achieved its aim. That matters. If we set out to exercise regularly, learn a skill or complete a project, we have reason to care whether it happens. But success is not the whole picture, especially when the answer to “Did I succeed?” is no. That answer tells us where an attempt stood in relation to its aim, but little about the conditions from which we now continue.



An attempt that falls short still leaves a result. It may reveal a difficulty, change the surroundings, build familiarity or show that an approach needs revising. These consequences do not turn failure into success. They matter because what results from one attempt can shape the starting point of another.

This is where succession offers a helpful perspective. We begin with inherited conditions, encounter something in the present, and continue from the resulting conditions. Each result becomes part of the basis for what follows. Succession asks what an attempt changed and how that change may affect the next one.



Consider someone who wants to exercise but keeps their weights in a storage chest. The weights being there are part of the starting situation, not themselves a failed attempt. If a planned workout does not happen, asking whether it succeeded gives a clear answer. Asking what made it difficult to begin may suggest a practical change. Moving the weights to a safe, accessible place leaves the next attempt with different conditions. It does not guarantee a workout, but it changes what that person has to work with.

The same relationship appears in other settings. A cut in wood may leave a shape the maker did not intend, yet the next cut must begin from that actual shape. An incorrect plant identification may lead someone to mark a distinguishing feature in their field guide, which they can consult when examining another leaf.

The graph adds a further point. Its vertical axis shows how closely each resulting state fits the intended outcome. Some states move closer; others move further away. The dips remain part of the succession because each resulting state becomes the basis for another transition. A dip might reveal something useful, or it might simply leave a harder situation to work from. Succession does not require every step to count as improvement.

The graph shows one succession that eventually produces success. Its ending is possible, not promised by the process. Success remains a useful measure of whether an aim was achieved. Succession gives us a way to reason about what happens between attempts, including those that fall short. The practical question is what has this left behind, and what can be changed from here?


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I am whatever Darwin needs me to be.


Edited by sudly (09/26/26 02:23 AM)

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