Saturday, April 16, 2011
Dealing with ineptitude
You know, I really need to get past my aversion to being even remotely associated with inept people, people who make bad decisions time after time, people who don't have the will of power to have an opinion and stick to it, people who can't even chart their own destinies...
After all, think of all the great leaders, good or evil. They do associate themselves with capable people, but what really determines if they make it on the big stage is how the work the average person, the masses fraught with human frailties, too ignorant to even be aware of their own weaknesses. Call it persuasion, manipulation or what you like; it's sad that the fate of the capable man lies in the hands of the incapable.
(There are just way too many examples, positive or negative about this. There is the death of Socrates, the perfect example of someone so capable but yet killed by the masses. On the flip side, there is Hitler (he has done terrible things but you have to admit there is something about his stunning rise to power) and in our local context LKY (it isn't my intention to link him to Hitler here. As much as I believe there are some things he could have done better I must concede that he was freaking darn capable at what he does. And am I glad he is 'good' in the conventional sense or we might be living like the North Koreans)
That said, I have no desire to lead or succeed in the conventional sense. Leave that be better people. I might have some ideals but I lack way too much will to get things through. Nevertheless, it's time not to let those people hold me down. This sem, more and more, I'm getting into the idea of Nietzsche's moral philosophies. Why should exceptional people be bound to common morality? Perhaps, when some people cannot make the right choices/opinions by themselves perhaps their opinions and choices shouldn't be respected. Hopefully I'd learn to put that into action some day
After all, think of all the great leaders, good or evil. They do associate themselves with capable people, but what really determines if they make it on the big stage is how the work the average person, the masses fraught with human frailties, too ignorant to even be aware of their own weaknesses. Call it persuasion, manipulation or what you like; it's sad that the fate of the capable man lies in the hands of the incapable.
(There are just way too many examples, positive or negative about this. There is the death of Socrates, the perfect example of someone so capable but yet killed by the masses. On the flip side, there is Hitler (he has done terrible things but you have to admit there is something about his stunning rise to power) and in our local context LKY (it isn't my intention to link him to Hitler here. As much as I believe there are some things he could have done better I must concede that he was freaking darn capable at what he does. And am I glad he is 'good' in the conventional sense or we might be living like the North Koreans)
That said, I have no desire to lead or succeed in the conventional sense. Leave that be better people. I might have some ideals but I lack way too much will to get things through. Nevertheless, it's time not to let those people hold me down. This sem, more and more, I'm getting into the idea of Nietzsche's moral philosophies. Why should exceptional people be bound to common morality? Perhaps, when some people cannot make the right choices/opinions by themselves perhaps their opinions and choices shouldn't be respected. Hopefully I'd learn to put that into action some day
