Only trying matters...or does it?
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An interesting topic cropped up on the other forum I visit. One member claims that the standard of sport is falling in places where the politically-correct brigade have a stronghold. Kids lose their fighting spirit when they're told that taking part is the most important thing, and not winning. In the hopes of keeping their interests and participation up they are advised to 'enjoy' it, rather than sulk or fight to develop their skills further if they lose.
This can also be applied to education, where the clowns try to keep people from failing not by making them work harder, but by making it so obscure through 'competency learning'/streaming, or ditching the usual alphabetical grades for 'satisfactory/unsatisfactory'. It becomes difficult to distinguish who has real mastery of the subject.
What's all this for, to massage some egos? Sometimes I wonder whether we've gone too far with 'compassion'. People should be put in their place when they clearly lack any aptitude in a particular area, and not patronised. In our local contest it may be called 'spoiling the market'. It may kill off a kid's interest in the sport or subject, but they should learn to deal with it, train or try something else.
So the point is: people should be made to face up to their weaknesses; anything that happens as a result (like choosing a subject that is easier to score in) is just a reflection of their character. What do you guys think? You can relate this to our experiences in school in P.E. or art class, for instance. -
Eeryone may have his own definition and yardstick of success, so not everyone can apply the same benchmark to everyone. With that, i think it's better for ppl to choose their own vocations according to their aptitude. As an example, I think there's no point putting a non-academically inclined kid in the usual school, when he could learn more and better, and be happier in a more technical-oriented learning environment.
Personally, I don't think winning at all cost is everything (just think of the dragon boating tragedy), as long as one has done his/her best in whatever he/she did, and with a clear conscience. That counts for me.
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not everyone can be No.1
so.. does that make the "also rans" less successful?
if being the best is the be-all and end-all, we will have the same situation as professional cycling...
sometimes, it is for fun
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I dunno .... I believe in going down fighting no matter what ....
if the pain and shame of loosing, of coming in second place, is taken away even before the effort, then would we try as hard ? ...
and if we were to inculcate this sort of thinking in the young, are we giving them a false impression of the cruel world ? ...