Crabs in a Bucket

[Supa]

Put one crab in a bucket and it can climb out of that bucket. No, it will climb out of it.

Now put two crabs in that same bucket. If one of those crabs tries to climb out of it, the other one will pull it back in. None of them will ever escape the bucket.

The possibility of escaping that damn bucket doesn't really matter, the crabs will hold themselves back from escaping it.

Crazy crabs, right?

Well, actually it's not too different with humans.

While I came across the term Crabs in a Bucket mentality in the topic of weight loss (on Reddit), and how differently some people treat people who lost a lot of weight, I think this term actually fits to pretty much every area in life.

If it's the obese guy at the office making jokes of you for eating a salad or drinking a protein shake, while at the same time putting the 5th cookie in his hands with the 4th one not even swallowed yet.

Maybe it's your family telling you that hitting the gym 5 times a week to get fit is unhealthy.. and that you should rather order pizza with them tonight.

Or the sheeple herd trying to keep you in their rows, instead of going the "risky" way of building your own life outside of the cubicle.

I think that crabs parable is pretty powerful on itself, so let's keep this post short.

Most of the time this behaviour doesn't even come with bad intentions. It's more like an automatic mechanism to protect the person from feeling bad about him/herself. But no matter the intention, it can be really annoying and frustrating.

One guy in that Reddit discussion put it in quite perfect words:
"Nothing puts someones laziness and lack of self control into focus like watching someone put in the work it takes to change for the better."

Knowing about this type of Crabs in a Bucket mentality makes life a lot easier.

If you're guilty of this behaviour yourself, you should be aware of it by now and be able to get rid of it, no offense but it doesn't do any good to you or others.
If you are the victim of this behaviour, don't let yourself get pulled back down into that damn bucket (aka the cubicle, aka Burger King, aka.. you get the point.)

And because I know you expected an image of crabs in a bucket when you clicked, here you go..

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JDx]

I remember this being written in a book somewhere, or perhaps it was on Quora.
Anyways, indeed a very accurate term/way of thinking/example. Finding it very noticeable with my friends and close family.
That is why it's so important to find like-minded people and hang around with (and learn from) them IMO.
Thanks for the share

 

[Supa]

I remember this being written in a book somewhere, or perhaps it was on Quora.
Anyways, indeed a very accurate term/way of thinking/example. Finding it very noticeable with my friends and close family.
That is why it's so important to find like-minded people and hang around with (and learn from) them IMO.
Thanks for the share

Yes, that's something that will probably always happen as soon as you achieve some kind of success in a specific area in which others would love to have success but don't have it.

 

[Fox]

There was a thread on exactly this yesterday too. More crabs.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JokerCrazyBeatz]

It's the scarcity mentality that creates this in people . We come from a world of believing it's "not enough" when actually it's enough for everyone to get a piece . And it ironic that u actually are more of a success when u help bring people up with you instead of trying to hold them down b/c u wanna be top dog

 

[GuestUserX09]

I just told a friend of mine this last week. Think I actually heard this on a Tai Lopez stream. Nonetheless, it is very important to understand. My friend was wondering why his old friends were calling him fake for hanging out with him less while he tried to get serious about his life. I used the crabs in a bucket story to explain it to him.

 

[Supa]

There was a thread on exactly this yesterday too. More crabs.

Oh, didn't see your thread @RHL thanks for pointing out Fox, was a great read!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Longinus]

I love animal stories.

Like deer.

There are deer living in Europe for centuries and longer. During the Cold War Europe was divided in East- and West by the "Iron Curtain": barbed wire fences, mines etc. Not only did they keep humans in their "side", but also animals, like deer.

Now, almost 30 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, deer still avoid this border. EVEN there is not one single deer that lived during that period. Meaning that deer still learn their babies to stay away while they don't know why!

Stupid animals?

Well, ask your parents why they tell you to get good grades.

 

[Supa]

@Longinus reminds me of this the monkeys and the ladder experiment..

 

[Tapp001]

@Longinus reminds me of this the monkeys and the ladder experiment..

Most people don't know what they are talking about. Most 'leaders' are just keeping to tradition, not knowing what works, hoping that it all works out. And when the masses see someone who dares to go against the grain, who dares to point out the flaws, they yell at them to step in line and keep quiet. They may even trick themselves into thinking that they are doing this for that person's own good. And if that person doesn't have the strength of will to stand up against everyone for what they know is the truth (and most cannot), they get dragged back down to mediocrity, cursing both the world for being wrong and themselves for being weak.

The thing is, you only have to climb out once. And as long as you keep getting back up and keep trying, then the world never really wins.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JDx]

(...)

Stupid animals?

Well, ask your parents why they tell you to get good grades.

 

[ApparentHorizon]

@Longinus reminds me of this the monkeys and the ladder experiment..

Jesus H. Christ, this is a scary representation of the real world.

Also relevant: http://gureckislab.org/courses/fall13/learnmem/papers/Skinner1948.pdf

A study in which pigeons start performing rituals they believe is connected to their desired outcome

In humans this presents itself as wearing your lucky underwear when going into an interview, giving you an extra boost in confidence. Or waving your hands at a bowling ball as it travels down the lane, hoping it will turn in your desired direction.

The best of people are affected by this, even when empirical data is readily available.

 

[Andy Black]

Thanks @Supa. Great post.

I've heard that there's a particular type of crab that takes it to the extreme...

If there is food outside the bucket and they can all smell it, then if one crab tried to get out, the rest don't just pull it back, they tear it to pieces.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Supa]

Thanks @Andy Black

This kind of aggressive crab can mostly be found hiding behind screens and social media comments.

 

[Supa]

Somehow I just thought of this post, which is a good thing since it put a little smile on my lips.

Just like five minutes ago, at the job, I told a coworker kinda by the way, that my fiancée and I signed up to a local gym.

Then another coworker gave her, unsolicited, opinion on that topic.

She started talking and the crab pincers started to pull on my shirt, trying to get me back into the bucket.

It started pretty harmless.

She talked about her and her husband also going to sign up for one. Great, right? That's good for her. She's the type of person who changes her tactic of weight loss every like ... two or four weeks or so.

But then she asked if we signed up for one or two years.

Two, I said, since it's cheaper.

The grip of her pincers tightend.

Oh, how much do you save compared to the one year contract? she asked.

About 2€ (pretty much the same in $ currently) per week, I said.

Out came her calculator.

So let's see, she said and started hitting the keys, you said 8€ instead of 10 a week ... ok ... both of you, that makes, she looked up, 840€ you will waste the second year, because nobody hits the gym for 2 years, if you're honest.

Little bit of fruitless attempts of convincing her that it's definitely not wasted money, and that not everybody quits after one year, but then I remembered the crabs in a bucket mentality and started to see her spincers pulling on my shirt.

I shoved them away and got the hell away from those sharp F*ckers, in other words, I put my earphones in after the discussion ended.