I have a habit to dismiss/brush-side/ my competitive achievements by … brushing aside the cohort ! I tell myself things like “矬子里拔将军”. However, this is a distorted perception of reality about the cohort. Most the time I lack minimum knowledge about the cohort to reach that assessment.

— eg (trigger): 2023 JPM5.6km | I won 2nd place among MLP runners but I tend to brush it aside by assuming that my peer group are not fit enough.

I was #344 among 6000 “visible” finishers, but there are total about 10,000 participants in Singapore. All participants are serious about CRE.

The large sample size gives credibility to the statistics, so my city-wide personal ranking is far more accurate than the company-wide personal ranking, but I tend to ignore this fact and brush aside even a large-sample, highly credible assessment.

— eg: 2026 Tyco sport event | #1 in 400m.
Whenever I am #1, I would brush aside the cohort automatically ! However, there were good runners! I have no justification to ignore it.
— eg: 1989~199x I was the top physics student in Shiyan (lower and upper years). I routinely brushed aside my entire Shiyan cohort, saying that Shiyan cohort was strong in math, not physics.

That perception of reality was unfounded. Math and (theoretical) physics talent are highly correlated.
— eg: 1993 HJC | AO level Chinese exam .. HJC was the strongest JC in this subject. The exam actually featured composition!
— eg: 1992 or 1993 HJC | American high school math competition | international champion team. I was the first among 4 or 5 team members to go on stage to receive the prize.

HJC was a powerhouse in high-school math across Singapore and SEAsia, and I simply ignored that and brush aside the entire Singapore cohort.
— eg: 2016 UChicago | GPA 3.75.. There is really no weakness in this cohort, but still I brushed aside the cohort .. _irrational_

Even if I were to score near the top in MIT or Stanford, I would still brush aside the cohort.
— eg: 2010 Citigroup superday | #1 pick ..
Q: is there any justification to brush aside this cohort? None. I actually worked alongside these guys later in Citigroup, so I know them personally.
— eg: Over the 2010s I was an elite WStC candidate. Then I was told that Europe candidates and WSBA techies were visibly stronger on average. Wholeheartedly I have since accepted the inferiority of the entire WStC cohort.

Basically, I brushed aside my cohort to devalue my own achievement and preeminence.

Putting on a critical hat, this perception of reality is flawed, unfounded and biased. My first-hand assessment of those “external” counterparts was unconvincing. Europe salaries are measurably lower than WallSt. Europe clusters (London, Frankfurt, Zurich,,,) won’t beat WallSt in talent diversity.