Talking Tragedy
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We listened to a TED Talk by Alain de Botton yesterday. In his TED Talk, he discusses failing, failures, losers, and losing. He talks about how society as a whole has evolved from blaming failure on consequences or unappeased gods and instead now has begun to hold each individual accountable for their own shortcomings. He also explains how society sees people who have fallen on hard times as "losers" rather than people who have lost, which hold wildly different connotations. He then talks about snobs and snobbery. He explains to us that a 'snob' is someone who makes assumptions based on a person, situation, or thing from their very first glance. Going further with this description, he states that these snobbish people are dripping with envy. That is why they are so cruel; to make themselves feel better about their own lives. He states that it is only natural for human beings to feel envious of others, especially if they are easily comparable or relatable to yourself. People naturally are less likely to feel jealous of those that they feel are not similar enough to compare to. These ideas are then tied into the concept of a society based solely on what an individual has achieved and is worth. If you work hard enough, you will rise to the top no matter what other situations may arise. However, the opposite is also true in that if you do not work hard enough, you will always remain on the bottom no matter what else may happen. While seemingly ideal, there are issues. This society format would cause the people who were on the bottom to be real life losers. They would appear as failures to everyone no matter what, because they seem to have decided that the bottom is where they wanted to be. Now, we move into the tragedy section. de Botton compared tragedy on stage to tragedy in real life. Heroes in tragic plays and stories are never considered to be losers, yet people in the real world are told time and time again that they are losers or failures for not succeeding at every given task they are handed. Most of the time, people even ignore their successes in favor of berating them for failing. Through the exploration of tragedy, people will hopefully learn that you do not lose because you are a loser. There are multitudes of reasons for loss or failure, and it happens to every single one of us, no matter how accredited or perfect someone may seem. By learning to define failure for ourselves, society as a whole will become much better, and more comfortable to be a part of. This way, no one will have to go around wondering if they will be isolated due to their failures and can instead focus on fixing their issues and beginning to correct all of their past mistakes. It could potentially be dangerous if people continue to feel like they are nothing but failures. If a person feels like their life has literally amounted to nothing, they will often become depressed and possibly will attempt to or actually commit suicide. This is the main reason that it is important that people understand that they are not failures, they have simply failed at certain things in the past and always have the opportunity to either make up for their past errors or clean their slates and start fresh again. It is never too late. You are not a failure.
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