The author states we are copycats, agree or disagree?

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The author states we are copycats, agree or disagree?

Post by cd20 »

Jeff Meyer states that "By nature we are copycats. We see someone else succeed and our focus shifts. We no longer pay attention to what WE are doing. we obsess over what the successful person is doing." Do you agree with this, or disagree? Why?
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I also had a problem wrapping my head around that assertion. However, his argument about trying to replicate what successful people do makes a lot of sense. I don't know if I completely agree that we are copycats, as everyone has something unique to bring to the table.
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Post by ROSEY-ANN »

People like to do what works. Hence people copy certain action assuming it will work successfully for them. For example "copycatting" is how humans learn language that's a basic truth, so we use this techniques at different points in our lives. However didn't the author mention that we have a creative side of our brains which allow us be unique. I tend to agree more than disagree.
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Post by Jennifer Garcia 555 »

I agree with this for the most part. I see neighbors try to replicate the fancy new car or lawn from next door. I see people trying to achieve the same level of success as their friends or family members. Though I have also met people that don’t care what others think and only try to live up to their own expectations. So I would say it depends on the person.
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Post by cd20 »

I agree that what he says makes a lot of sense. I also agree that we do all have something unique to bring to the table, but I also think other people's ideas can distract us from our own. We can find ourselves playing the comparison game, getting distracted, instead of focusing on our own dreams. Thank you for sharing your perspective.
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Post by Nouria el saftawy »

I agree with that, I think it’s in the human nature to look at people who are successful and we want to be like them, and because they inspire us so we try to copy them to reach that level of success, but truth is everyone has a unique quality and we shouldn’t always copy people and sometimes try doing things in our own way.
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Post by cd20 »

Nouria el saftawy wrote: 15 May 2021, 23:14 I agree with that, I think it’s in the human nature to look at people who are successful and we want to be like them, and because they inspire us so we try to copy them to reach that level of success, but truth is everyone has a unique quality and we shouldn’t always copy people and sometimes try doing things in our own way.
I agree, we all have our own unique attributes that we bring to the table. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it can also distract us from what we are supposed to be doing. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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Post by cd20 »

ROSEYANN wrote: 15 May 2021, 16:47 People like to do what works. Hence people copy certain action assuming it will work successfully for them. For example "copycatting" is how humans learn language that's a basic truth, so we use this techniques at different points in our lives. However didn't the author mention that we have a creative side of our brains which allow us be unique. I tend to agree more than disagree.
Yes, he did. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I agree that we tend to copy other people, but it can also be a distraction. Especially when we start playing the comparison game. We all do have our own unique gifts and attributes that we bring to the table. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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Post by cd20 »

Jenniferg_1105 wrote: 15 May 2021, 18:49 I agree with this for the most part. I see neighbors try to replicate the fancy new car or lawn from next door. I see people trying to achieve the same level of success as their friends or family members. Though I have also met people that don’t care what others think and only try to live up to their own expectations. So I would say it depends on the person.
I absolutely agree that it depends on the person. I do not think we need to try to "keep up with the Jones'" so to speak, but imitation can be good as well. As long as we remember that we do have our own unique gifts to bring to the table. I am not one to care about keeping up with people's cars, clothes, etc., but if I think someone is setting up their book blogs better than mine then I will try to tweak mine to make it better, lol. We all have our things that we "copy" from others, but they are unique to us. Thank you for sharing your persepective.
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Post by Nicholus Schroeder »

I have to agree that the majority of people are copycats, once they see one person do something or behave in a certain way they get a compelling desire to do what they have just witnessed. I've seen countless people splurge out a couple of thousands on shoes they rarely wear only because "they were in fashion or so and so wore them" how people justify such is beyond me.
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Post by Nicholus Schroeder »

Jenniferg_1105 wrote: 15 May 2021, 18:49 I agree with this for the most part. I see neighbors try to replicate the fancy new car or lawn from next door. I see people trying to achieve the same level of success as their friends or family members. Though I have also met people that don’t care what others think and only try to live up to their own expectations. So I would say it depends on the person.
That's all very true but I'm wondering do your believe that most people (51% or more of population) are copycats or do you believe that the majority is carefree.
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Post by Jagiine »

This is a bit of a tough one. I think the claim holds true for a portion of our lives, and may reemerge for some of us. More specifically, I think that we copycat ambition when we're trying to learn what success and its pursuit look like for ourselves. Copying is a large part of how we learn as children, and it peters out at a different pace for each of us. Some of us have an on-again-off-again relationship with it as we fight with confidence and passion well into our adulthoods, while others of us beat our own drums from a very young age. I believe distraction is most likely to come in if we're having tough times with our own things (whether for the reasons I already stated or because what we're doing is plain difficult) and want to escape that immediate difficulty.
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Post by cd20 »

Nicholus Schroeder wrote: 16 May 2021, 19:01 I have to agree that the majority of people are copycats, once they see one person do something or behave in a certain way they get a compelling desire to do what they have just witnessed. I've seen countless people splurge out a couple of thousands on shoes they rarely wear only because "they were in fashion or so and so wore them" how people justify such is beyond me.
Yuck. I had not even thought about that kind of copycat. I was thinking along the lines of smaller things, but you are right. I am not the type to care about clothes/shoes/make-up, so that was not where I was thinking with copycat dreams. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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Post by cd20 »

Jagiine wrote: 16 May 2021, 23:27 This is a bit of a tough one. I think the claim holds true for a portion of our lives, and may reemerge for some of us. More specifically, I think that we copycat ambition when we're trying to learn what success and its pursuit look like for ourselves. Copying is a large part of how we learn as children, and it peters out at a different pace for each of us. Some of us have an on-again-off-again relationship with it as we fight with confidence and passion well into our adulthoods, while others of us beat our own drums from a very young age. I believe distraction is most likely to come in if we're having tough times with our own things (whether for the reasons I already stated or because what we're doing is plain difficult) and want to escape that immediate difficulty.
I think you have explained this very well. I agree with you that we all go through stages where we are copycats and other times when we are not. I also agree that distractions do tend to come when we are having a tough time with our own dreams. That is when we start looking at what other people are doing and imitating them. Thank you for sharing your perspective.
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Post by Nichole Kurns »

I do not completely agree that we are copycats. I do believe we incorporate strategies/action we see from others that gave proven to work. However, we can't truly copy because we bring our unique abilities and personality to everything.
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