(2 + 2 = 1) > 2 [or, A Few Quick Words on Us]

Animals were once defined apart from humans because it was believed that they could not rationalise and work together. It was thought that they lacked the ability to comprehend a greater good, and rise above their limitations. Today we know better. We know that not only can some animals think in this way, but also that many of us cannot.

It is mankind’s greatest gift to see weakness in ourselves. To examine in detail where we are flawed, and others are not. To see that we could be better, but are not. To learn to do what betters us, and to learn to forgo what doesn’t. Inherent in our nature, we measure ourselves not by the quantity or degree of our imperfections, but by our ability to overcome them. We measure ourselves by the obstacles we overcome.

We seek out the challenges because on the bad days we beat them and we know that we can, and on the good days they beat us and we see how we could be better. Small challenges are personal, but great challenges are shared, and make us equal before they make us better. Great challenges help those around us, so that that the “we” becomes stronger.

Sometimes this ambition is corrupted, and tries to widen the gap between us. Some believe it is as much to be great only in comparison to those we hinder and oppress. This is a mind-set borne in the idea that we cannot be better. However, unless one can suppress all of humanity, one will never rise above it. In this way the empires of the world were made; by dividing people. Not because it was believed this was to the benefit of people, but because they recognised the strength of people united. Today these same ideas are propagated, often by the very groups that were weakened and divided in the past. Petty divisions are made in the belief that one man’s dreams are so different from another’s. That we are different inside, because we look and act different on the outside. However, what benefits few at the expense of many is not true ambition, and not worthy of a species as rich in achievement and accomplishment as we are.

There are also those who believe we can be better. They understand the wants of one man can be only so different from the wants of another. We are only human after all. To survive, then to thrive and then to flourish is the desire of all living things. If there is something shared in our goals, then indeed there must be much shared in our thoughts.

In considering two ideas we can examine their strengths and weaknesses, take the strengths of both, and in the process eliminate some of the flaws. Differences, in this way, complement each other and combine to create something new, something stronger and more beautiful than was there previously. Two ideas combine to make a single goal more attainable. This is the strength that diversity grants us, and it exists in the differences between all the people of the world. It exists because of the many ways in which we are all different, and we benefit because of fundamental ways in which we are all the same.

For every want in this world, we have a hundred million ways. In a hundred million ways we have just one want. What challenges can stand before such opposition? It can be said only that the best of us will find them, and together seek to overcome them as well.

My Beautiful Face

Of all human emotions, embarrassment is the one that amuses me most. The lengths to which we go to avoid shame, and salvage our pride are the most wonderful illustrations of human character. Whenever the picture we try to project is exposed as just a picture, or when we feel a critical stare on our insecurities...everything just falls apart.

Most interesting to me is the game of saving face. Trying to avoid that embarrassment we know all too well is there waiting for us. Sensing that we are about to look foolish once again, instinct takes over. It’s the game where we take the most trivial of obstacles and turn it into an ordeal. For me it has always been the embarrassment of saying no, and then trying to save face because I said yes.

The lengths to which I have complicated my own life because I was embarrassed to say no are, quite frankly, pathetic. I remember clearly my history teacher once asking me if it was ok if he kept the plastic wallet I handed my coursework in, just to hold the sheets together. “Yeah sure”, I said, “I got plenty of ‘em at home!”. I didn’t. I just couldn’t bear to say no, and ask for my plastic sleeve back. For weeks my schoolwork was handed in crumpled and tattered, until one day I decided I would replace my plastic wallet with something that no teacher would ever ask to keep. Something that clearly looked as though it wasn’t a throw away object. Something that said..”no, you can’t have me, I’m important!”. I bought an artist’s tube, and from that day on all of my coursework was handed in rolled up and frayed. I don’t know why I said yes...I just did...I always say yes!

I wasn’t alone though, I’m still not alone. People, despite handing in their work on sheets of fancy flat paper, have always been weak when it comes to the saving face game. It’s human nature after all. Instinct knows explicitly that which we try so hard not to believe. That the only truth others know about us, is what they see. People are judged on action, not intention. The “face” is all the substance we have in the eyes of others. Lose that, and it’s a long road home. Nobody wants to be the scared one, or the guy who wasn’t up to it. Those labels may last a lifetime, right?

That is not to say that I think the game shows a human weakness. It’s honest. It comes from the heart. It’s one of those times we just stop thinking, and let our feelings drive. Following through on all of my involuntary yes’s has got me a lot in life. It got me my first kiss (and first girlfriend), a postgraduate degree, my first car, my job, half of my wardrobe at least, a lot of drunken nights, a few scars and a whole lot of embarrassment that me and my instinct actually didn’t see coming!

I think there is a lot to say for the saving face game, especially because sometimes it actually works. Even when it doesn’t, so what if we embarrass ourselves sometimes; our lives are short and we’re not perfect. That’s what makes us beautiful.