In one form or another, most of us, if not all, are striving or are at the very least subject to projections of superiority.
Types of superiority ranges from religion (thinking that one religion is better than the other), to wealth (associating oneself to a similar elite class), to education (studying hard to prove oneself smarter and capable than others or as a platform to bring oneself further than others) to etiquette (behavior and well manners are closely linked to upbringing) and a whole lot more.
Striving to superiority is, in one's eyes and society's eyes, a determination to be better and to achieve more. This is all good and stuff but at the same time, striving to be better divides people as it inidrectly/directly belittles them. Whether you realise it or not, by telling yourself that you want to be better, you are saying that you are, and many people who are at your similar stage 0, not good enough. And once you've progressed to stage 1, you think that you are better off now than before and others who are at stage 0, are lacking behind.
As you progress more and more in life, the gap may keep on increasing up to a stage where everyone who is not with you becomes part of 'them' and it becomes a separation between 'us' and 'them'. Of course one way of narrowing it is to help others progress. But it is fatal to assume that others view/desire progress the way you do.
I guess my question is, how do you progress without a projection of superiority?How do you not divide it into an Us vs Them thing? And if need be, how do you reduce superiority but at the same time remain relevant?
Respect for all is an answer. Respect will make life a lot more peaceful but it is not the answer to bring us closer. Or am I missing the point? Is division natural and inevitable after all?
^8 Cee
Types of superiority ranges from religion (thinking that one religion is better than the other), to wealth (associating oneself to a similar elite class), to education (studying hard to prove oneself smarter and capable than others or as a platform to bring oneself further than others) to etiquette (behavior and well manners are closely linked to upbringing) and a whole lot more.
Striving to superiority is, in one's eyes and society's eyes, a determination to be better and to achieve more. This is all good and stuff but at the same time, striving to be better divides people as it inidrectly/directly belittles them. Whether you realise it or not, by telling yourself that you want to be better, you are saying that you are, and many people who are at your similar stage 0, not good enough. And once you've progressed to stage 1, you think that you are better off now than before and others who are at stage 0, are lacking behind.
As you progress more and more in life, the gap may keep on increasing up to a stage where everyone who is not with you becomes part of 'them' and it becomes a separation between 'us' and 'them'. Of course one way of narrowing it is to help others progress. But it is fatal to assume that others view/desire progress the way you do.
I guess my question is, how do you progress without a projection of superiority?How do you not divide it into an Us vs Them thing? And if need be, how do you reduce superiority but at the same time remain relevant?
Respect for all is an answer. Respect will make life a lot more peaceful but it is not the answer to bring us closer. Or am I missing the point? Is division natural and inevitable after all?
^8 Cee
5 comments:
i think humility is important, which is central to teachings of islam..submission to god.
superiority is always benchmarked against something, like a contrast. if people accept that all things come from god, then superiority becomes an irrelevant concept
doesn't it depend on the intention of the person trying to do better? if his only motivation is to beat someone else, that's divisive. but really, if you are doing better so that you can go further for yourself well that's not bad at all right. On another note, think of sport-it divides and unites at the same time. I mean you want to beat the next person but you also want to break the boundaries of the sport and take it to new limits. btw, i do think division is natural and inevitable but it doesn't have to be a zero sum game.
in vacuo: humility is ideal. but humility aside, as the gap widens, things in common narrows. (i) is this acceptable? (ii) if not, how do you overcome it?
avp: interesting comparison to sports. analogy to analogy, what will be an equivalent analogy to 'sportsmanship' in this case?
i think the process of "division" is natural and difficult to control..it's acceptable in most cases but in the end it comes down intention and honesty..which is almost impossible to identify and quantify.
prob next after respect and humility is understanding. there's definitely greater understanding in the world today, seeing how collaboration (instead of competition) has achieved great things (e.g the internet, wikipedia, linux etc). i think competition/superiority will never die, but become less relevant as people collaborate more towards common goals..a win-win situation
btw try googling "nonzero" by richard wright, i think it's related to your post. and yea, he's at ted too :)
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