I'm about 2/3rds through this audio book and had to make a thread about it since it applies so succinctly to the MMM crowd.
At the very start it talks about some guy investigating call-centre turn over rates in his employees, and he discovers that people who found the job ad through firefox vs IE/safari, had lower turnover, better caller satisfaction, and just excelled in almost any metric.
His reasoning for this was the to get firefox, you had to challenge the default browser assumption pushed on you by Microsoft/Apple. This speaks to the sort of attitude that doesn't just accept things at face value and broadcast to the much broader sense, are far more free-thinking , creative, and independent.
In order to pursue the FIRE game I think you need to fall into this category. Another forum I frequent redflagdeals which seems to have a deal getting slant, but is a much more 'middle of the pack' demographic I think. Lots of threads about breaking the 50k salary barrier, week long getaways to all inclusives in Cuba, gov't jobs, chasing higher pay regardless of other factors, and how to get the best rate when changing over $40 worth of USD. One thread about a guy considering quitting for long term travel (ie a mini-retirement frequently bandied about here) and some people replying about how reckless that would be and how no employer would look at them after such irresponsibility.
Something struck me as a common theme. Acting out the societal default and referring back to it when challenged. Buying a house instead renting because "that's what responsible people do, renting is throwing away money", and never even questioned if there was a better way, or if it was a good deal. For instance here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/house-investment-wealth-1.3716641When this couple challenged that, it became one of the most commented on stories ever on CBC, and most comments were filled with vitriol about how they were wrong and irresponsible.
Trying to find good exchange rates but ignoring that on such a trivial sum the difference wont matter. The one that pushed me for making a thread was a guy saying how responsible he is since he's almost fully funded his RRSP/TFSA, but has no idea how much is there, where it is, or whats going on with it. Work just takes it off and he bumped it up. He's doing better than average, and therefore doesn't question the details, but with just a few more steps he could even be on his way to FIRE.
It also touches on the fact that you need to be willing to challenge social norms, not fear embarrassing yourself, and I think a good number of folks here fall into that category. I always knew I was a bit different and marched to a different beat(along with many others here I think), and this book really brings it home that it's a good thing.