The simple mathematics of contemporary life ensure that most people's abilities will be considered unremarkable.

In more traditional village times, anybody who was the best cook, athlete, musician, or whatever among 100 of his fellows was regarded as remarkable, and therefore definitely a “somebody.”

If a person was better at something than 1,000 of his fellows, the odds were good that he would never in his lifetime encounter another human being of comparable proficiency.  And if he did, both parties were likely to be considered almost mythic figures.

That whole picture has changed today.

In the realm of sports, being the best among 100 of your peers can get you onto your high school basketball team—although not necessarily as its captain, and maybe not even as a starter.  Beyond this point, being the best among 1,000 might not land you a spot on even an obscure college team.

And compared to our primary frame of reference, that “bigger world” of professional sports that we see every day on our television screens, the vast majority of us are doomed from the outset never to be more than spectators.

If an individual’s prospects for recognition as an athlete are bad, as something like a musician they’re even worse.

As recently as the dawn of the 20th century, just being passably proficient on a musical instrument was enough to have lots of people asking you to play for them.  

But very few of us show up to hear local musicians play in local places anymore.    Recorded music overtook the live kind long ago, with the result that even highly talented people have a hard time finding a place to perform.

Today, we’re all plugged into the latest recordings by the same miniscule set of mega-stars that everyone on the planet listens to.  What are the odds of becoming one of these?

To add insult to injury, far from being valued—or even granted some minimum level of common respect—people who try to make a living from music because it's what they do best in life are pitied, or even outright scorned, as hopeless dreamers who refuse to grow up. 

Has there ever been another society that's treated its musicians so badly?

The problem of recognition is even more acute for people who may not have exceptional talents or gifts, but nevertheless make valuable contributions to our world.

For example, Amercian schoolteachers were once individually known to virtually everyone in their communities, and thought of in terms of the civilizing effects they brought—not just as people of lowly status based on their inability to purchase high-end consumer goods.

Likewise, cops and firefighters were seen as valued protectors well before the events of 9/11, and have only somewhat begun to reclaim their earlier sense of recognition.  And now for police, cases of excessive force—especially against people of color—are driving their public image back down again.

How about independent business owners?  It wasn’t all that long ago that if you were, say, the proprietor of a local hardware store, you had a definite position in the community.  Everyone knew you and the need you fulfilled.  Today, if you’re known at all, you’ll be considered just a small-time local alternative to Home Depot, and lucky to be able to eke out a living at all.

The vast majority of us are only hired help—employees—whose activities or contributions to the community are completely unknown to our fellow citizens.