Monday, January 2, 2012

ANC 22: two groups

130. Dog and Cat. Coffee and Tea. Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. Everyone knows there are two types of people in the world. What are they? (U of Chicago)


Success and Failure. Good and Evil. Educated and Downtrodden. People divide themselves into these two groups. However, there is a basic classification of people: people who harm others and people who don't. 


Whether the person is successful or not, good or not, educated or not, he/she is a different man depending on his/her influence towards others. Even if one is a World Star having the largest amount of money, the best education, and the biggest fame, if one harm others physically or mentally or in any other way, he/she is not a person worthy of praise. 


In this interdependent society, one small harm can influence lots of things. For instance, a car driving in a highway suddenly stops. Then due to the driver of this stopped car, the car behind will also stop followed by the cars behind it. The highway will soon face a jam just because of one car in the middle of the highway. Perhaps, the driver of the very first stopped car has his own reasons of not driving. However, whichever is the case, he harmed the other drivers by many ways; some of the drivers may be late to appointments, or  some may be late to work. 


The reason we can call Hitler was not a successful leader despite his fame in the world is that we are aware how much Hitler harmed the people and the world. The reason we can call Steve Jobs smart and successful although he does not have a college degree is that we are aware he has not harmed anyone but helped others with technology. The way we could be called successful is by being harmless and helpful to others in the society. 

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