Wearing a beret to your ethics and values class doesn't mean you understand the material better than your classmates.
Reading the bible doesn't make you more religious than your brother in law.
Screaming "fuck you!" on BYU campus doesn't mean your not just another "zoobie".
Writing a blog doesn't mean your opinion means more than a tweeters.
Being married doesn't mean you know more about life than your single friends.
Playing the guitar doesn't make you cooler then someone who plays the flute.
Falsifying an intellectual conversation with your friends doesn't mean you have more depth than the guys at the bar discussing the super bowl.
X is not > than X.
So many people today choose to define themselves by what they think makes them "better" than others. The fact is, no one human life, has greater, or lesser value than you do.
sorry chaps.
What is with this superiority complex? WHY do we feel the need to thrust others down, in order to lift ourselves up? if i really am as cool as i think i am in my head, why does it matter what people think of the guy sitting next to me?
news flash:
it doesn't.
Your own self worth shouldn't be based on how many of the people around you are "better" or "worse" than you are. The need to do ridicule others to establish self worth shows major insecurity on your part, and in reality, lowers peoples opinions of you.
so wise up, find your own ways to be better, new ways to test yourself, and set some goals for yourself to reach. Further your own personal growth, and find value in you in being better than you were yesterday, not in being better than your neighbor.
Something to chew on,
the littlest blogger
While I appreciate this post, I have to disagree. Some people are better than others. They weren't born that way, nor is it inherent or necessary that that is the way things are. Some people render themselves useless and below average because of their decisions. Your own self worth should not be based on that, but I firmly believe that some people are better than others.
ReplyDeleteThis in no way justifies Schultz thinking he's better than anyone, though.
The main point is that no one is better than anyone else out of the gate, and assuming so is representative of your own innadequacies.
ReplyDeletebut making better life decisions than someone else doesnt mean your a better person, it means your made better life decisions. it all depends on what determines value. is your value based on your capacity to do good? or the good you've done?
there are exceptions to every rule, like in the spansih language, though all verbs are supposed to follow specific rules for congugation, there are irregulars that follow their own rules alltogether.
its the same with people, theres plenty of people who follow the rules, then there are exceptions like Ghandi, jesus, etc. who are in fact BETTER than everyone else, but, for the most part, your not the exception.
While I can say that as a blanket statement, that is an acceptable point, but I'd like to compare the concept to a map; when looking at a small scale map (a map that covers a large area), you can only see the major differences in elevation, temperature, whatever variable you are mapping. However, as the map scale gets larger and larger (and the area you can focus on gets smaller and smaller), you see more detail.
ReplyDeleteEventually, you get to a 1:1 scale, where that "giant" hill that you have to ride your bike up every day looks giant. But back at the 1:63,360 scale (1 inch to 1 mile), that was invisible.
So after all that, my point is this: when looking at the human family as one giant "map", the only people who stand out are Ghandi, Christ, Descartes, Bernini, etc. However, zoom in and you see the little differences.
My decisions - all of them - have placed me at a level in many measurable variables; intelligence, retention of information, level of violin performance, breadth of vocabulary, (there are thousands of things you could insert here). I am higher than some, lower than others.
And I would contest that making better life decisions does make you a better person. I am a better person than Hitler or the Zodiac killer, not as good a person as Ghandi.
I guess you're looking at the small scale map - so you see the major differences - and I am looking at the large scale, and see the differences from the 1:1 view of my persepctive.
Keeping with the geography theme, some mountains are taller than others, but heigth, width, all around girth, aren't the only things that determine a mountains value.
ReplyDeleteMount everest is one huge hunk of rock! Tall, dangerous, world renoun, so its so much better then some puny mound of dirt in an african wasteland right? if you were collecting mountains like baseball cards you'd pick everest first every time! that is until you find out that theres a whole diamond mine burried under that little mound of dirt in africa, once you have that knowledge the whole game changes.
and what about rivers? forests? oceans? all of these have value, who are you to say "well i want the indian ocean, its waaaaay better than the whole continent of australia!" who gave you the authority to make that call?
People vary, they come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and have all kinds of talents, and weakneses, it doesnt matter what tools you use to survey the area, theres no one way to survey every little detail and determine what exactly is worth more.
like i said before, there are irregulars and extremes, Hitler, Ghangus Khan, Jesus, Ghandi, but even then, how do these compare?
lets play a game:
HITLER VS TED BUNDY
Hitler! the man responsible, directly, or indirectly for death of thousands of innocent people, launched a war that lasted years! surely he is the most evil man ever to live yes?
but then i bring up Ted Bundy, renound serial killer who terrorized the U.S.A from 1974-1978. He was convicted for the rape, torture, and murder of 30 women, but it is suspected that his true body count is probably closer to 100.
Now, which one of these men was more evil? well if your going by sheer volume Hitler of course, he's responsible for thousands, MILLIONS of deaths, making Ted Bundys "suspected" 100 look like chump change!
Then again.... ted bundy didn't just kill his victims, he tortured them, raped them, locked them up for days at a time, it some cases LITERALLY bled his victims dry, then hacked them up into little pieces and kept their severed breasts in his freezer as trophies. Yeah hitler was responsible for the gassing of a few million jews, but its not like he shoved them into the chamber himself. So he gave the order, but never did the deed, its arguable that hitler never technically killed someone before, and, if left alone in a room with ted bundy, would probably wet his jew hating pants.
sooo.... you tell me, whos more evil?
am i making sense? There are too many factors that go into determining worth, you cant ever factor them all together, i can say "im waaay more educated then that man there" but he can say "Im in way better shape then that fatty!" which one of us is "better?" we both have good qualities, both bad, it doesn't mean either of us has an advantage over the other.
Oh snap!
ReplyDeleteLet me way in though. I am, most assuredly, better than Justin Bieber.
BIEBER!
ReplyDeleteI feel the whole idea is that it's about how much you invest in any specific thing. Football is no better than basketball, ballet no better than opera, and heck football is no better than ballet. Oranges and apples. If you put apples with apples, then maybe you end up with the better apple based on someone's scale. But who determines what makes a good apple? Size alone? Freshness? Taste? Color? What if I prefer green and you red? Niether is better.
All I know is Bundy and Adolf are both ending up in Hell....and probably Bieber too, time will tell.