posted by sooyup
on
Daily trivia,
Pictures of Emm
Returning to yesterday’s theme, I’ve never really understood the competitive spirit. What’s so special about coming first? And should anyone come up with that old chestnut “No-one remembers who came second,” I’ve got news for you. In a very short space of time no-one (except the winner and a few anoraks) will remember who came first. So what, if some steroid-popping athlete can run a hundred metres a nanosecond faster than the other dozen people in the world who could be bothered. Who cares? I concede that it might be useful to be able to run really, really quickly if you have a bus to catch. But I can normally achieve that by leaving the house a few minutes earlier. In most important aspects of life, achievement isn’t measured in terms of who came first. Velasquez’ Rokeby Venus isn’t a great picture because he came first in an art competition. It’s memorable because it’s a wonderful image of a beautiful woman painted by a great artist. On the other hand, Damien Hurst won the Turner prize for his pickled cows. And he’s still crap.
Returning to yesterday’s theme, I’ve never really understood the competitive spirit. What’s so special about coming first? And should anyone come up with that old chestnut “No-one remembers who came second,” I’ve got news for you. In a very short space of time no-one (except the winner and a few anoraks) will remember who came first. So what, if some steroid-popping athlete can run a hundred metres a nanosecond faster than the other dozen people in the world who could be bothered. Who cares? I concede that it might be useful to be able to run really, really quickly if you have a bus to catch. But I can normally achieve that by leaving the house a few minutes earlier. In most important aspects of life, achievement isn’t measured in terms of who came first. Velasquez’ Rokeby Venus isn’t a great picture because he came first in an art competition. It’s memorable because it’s a wonderful image of a beautiful woman painted by a great artist. On the other hand, Damien Hurst won the Turner prize for his pickled cows. And he’s still crap.
