Do you admire what the Olympic athletes have been able to accomplish, and do you think they should be applauded for their outstanding performances? Most people in the world would answer the question in the affirmative. Most people also admire and applaud great musicians and artists. We celebrate these people because we know that most had to work extremely hard for many years with great discipline to accomplish extraordinary feats that give the rest of us great pleasure.
We also applaud and reward their accomplishments, even knowing that luck played some part in their success. Practice and hard work will not make one an Olympic champion without the right genes. There are no 6-feet 5-inch gymnasts, and there are no 5-feet 2-inch basketball champions. Many of us lack the genes to make us great musicians — and some of us even have difficulty staying on key, let alone writing a symphony.
Civilization can only advance when individuals are both encouraged and rewarded for excellence. The men and women who designed, built, and succeeded in placing the new SUV-sized rover on Mars receive and deserve our acclaim. The late Steve Jobs is widely admired for creating the world’s most valuable company and for being a genius in product innovation and marketing. Thomas Edison was even more innovative a century earlier — the light bulb, the phonograph, the electrical generation and distribution system, etc. — and he also built one of the world’s largest companies, General Electric.
The good side of humanity is revealed when we praise and reward such people. The bad side of humanity is shown by those who wish to punish success. According to legend, Ivan the Terrible was so impressed by the stellar achievement of the architect he had commissioned to design St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow that he had him blinded so no other ruler could hire him to produce an equal or greater feat.
No comments:
Post a Comment