Cursed omens of exceptional talent

If Berthier had been there, I would not have met this misfortune.

I didn’t want to write this essay but for some reason people keep asking me for more omens of exceptional talent. Please stop.

Nobody understands people; nobody can see the future. Not you. Not me. Not Sam Altman. Probably not even God.

If anything, you should be looking for omens of exceptional character, not talent.


  1. almost died while growing up in some weird unexpected way that in retrospect turns out to have been extremely ominous
  2. grew up on the frontier
  3. you’re worried they might destroy the world while trying to save it
  4. you’re confused if they’re the most arrogant or the most humble person you’ve ever met; the most conservative or the most radical person you’ve ever met
  5. failed more than anyone else you know
  6. no childhood friends; family and friends constantly undermine them; strangers are often unusually supportive
  7. sometimes violate laws of physics
  8. make you feel ashamed of yourself without any words
  9. parents failed in life
  10. volcely
  11. feels like they have a bunch of mental illnesses but somehow it seems to help them instead of hurting them
  12. a hermit but always talking to people
  13. get sued a lot
  14. they are somehow extremely serious and extremely facetious about life and death
  15. mom undermines father
  16. their entire worldview seems to be derived from a single insight
  17. seems like the only thing they care about is what people think of them yet they constantly upset the public opinion
  18. something about teleporters
  19. childhood is wholesome yet terrible
  20. do everything the wrong way
  21. almost lost their life to some kind of an addiction or escapist fantasies when growing up but made it through by escaping into the real world
  22. make you feel totally overwhelmed when talking, not even sure what happened
  23. death makes them stronger
  24. lucky

Thanks to Kyle Schiller for feedback.


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