Dude i agree with you 100% on some things, specially the self-aggrandizing part where people think its all their work.
The way I see it, Every aspect of life is just a roll of the dice. So many events can have the exact opposite outcome on any given day from the obvious like dying in a car accident to just escaping, to things like an assignment marker having a bad mood or giving you a slightly less mark would could affect GPA, mixed with enough of these random scenarios, it affects your job prospects.
And then you get into things which affect your whole life, such as how you put it, with mental vs physcial limitations.
I used to, and still am very jealous of some people who seem to have EVERYTHING fall their way. Its not ao simple as a case of 'they worked harder for it' since I ca counter that with 'they were born with the ability to work harder for it, some people just arent capable'. Again its so true with physical vs mental limitations. As an academic myself with a lot of small physical problems (like horrid teeth, eczema, hayfever, short, incredibly skinny, moles and all sorts of stuff) I used to be so quick to say that my intelligence was my hard work and my limitations were just unfortunate bad luck but I try to force myself to remember that just as many people out there an say the exact same when it comes to their mental capacity and that people have absolutely no control over their difficulty in being able to focus or learn. And of course, which one is more likely to be called lazy.
I guess the way I see it is I define a persons worth, as in my right to judge them, on what they do when opportunities present themselves. Should I feel proud because I happened to be born in an upper-middle class family who could afford private school to get me where I am today? Would I have been able to do this without it? If people have an opportunity and they willingly throw it away because they cant be bothered, yeah thats ****. But its impossible and incredibly unfair to judge those who may simply have so few opportunities, the chance of one working is low.
I dont beleive this crap that people work for their opportunities because while yes that is true, that only encompasses like the final 10% of any aspect of success. Yes I worked for my opportunity to get a job as an engineer throughout uni. But did I work to not be born in afghanistan? did I work to be born with a high mental capacity? did I work to be able to go to private school? did I work to be physically able to Study? All no, and all are 100% capable of ending someones potential for success.
Now that was all a bit of a rant and im kinda drunk lol but I def see what you mean man. But the most important take home message is this only applies to those people who like to brag about where they are as 100% their work, or those who would judge you entirely because you either have success, or you dont.
I just love the futility of life itself. One single tiny dice roll, from before you were born is enough to change your potential to succeed forever.
