95th Percentile

By Bernardo Filipe / December 1, 2025

Someone on X wrote that if you truly dedicate yourself to something you can become 95th percentile. That made me think about the things I’m 95th percentile at or was at some point. And I could come up with only four. The first would be the level I achieved at Devil May Cry. I became world-class at this game, as I have already explained in this blog previously, and I have video proof of it. The second would be boxing, or at the very least throwing punches. This is because I competed as an amateur boxer, and even though I was a beginner, I am sure 95% of people don’t even know how to throw a punch. Grok estimated that approximately only 1% of the world’s population has ever competed in a combat sport, and only 0.4% of the world’s population has competed in boxing at least once. So yeah. Boxing is the combat sport that has the most effective punching techniques, so I am sure I am well-above 95th percentile at throwing punches. Thirdly, I am currently able to do 20 consecutive pullups, after three months of rest from my training, while in July of this year I was doing 30 consecutive pullups. According to Grok, under 0.1% of people can do 20 consecutive pullups and for 30 consecutive pullups that percentage drops even lower to around 0.001%. Finally, I believe my writing and philosophical thinking puts me well-above the 95% percentile, and my book should be proof enough (believe it or not, my book places me at the 99.9th percentile, and in a few decades this assertion will seem obvious). Though, now that I think of it, there are probably more things that I am exceptionally good at. Take juggling. I can easily juggle 4 balls. According to Grok’s estimations, “fewer than 0.01% of the world’s population can juggle 4 balls competently (i.e., for at least 30–100 catches consistently)”. What an interesting exercise. Trying to find the stuff you are the 95th percentile at! Sure boosts your ego! But now that I am done with writing, I am already looking for a new activity to occupy my time and my mind. And, indeed, I have already decided what I’ll be doing. It’s time to start a new, challenging activity and to turn some knobs. In 14 years, I should have my Iron Squid. The last 14 years were for writing words; the next will be for writing melodies. Hopefully, by then, I will be able to claim I am at the 95th percentile of EDM production.