TED

This is kind of a late blog post so I don't remember the TED video very well. I did take a few notes so here are my comments on some of the ideas from the video.

One idea from the video was that the closer you are to someone in status, the more you can relate to them. This also means that you are more likely to become jealous of them. How many people are seriously jealous of kings? Kings are a lot higher in status than most people so it is hard to relate to them. People seem to assume that they are kings and it is their right to have lots of gold and power. It is easier to envy someone that you can understand. You know that they are close to you in status and you therefore tend to believe that you should be equal in most things. Then, if something is unequal between you, this causes envy.

Another idea was that tragedy is devoted to tracing how people fail. I think this is very true. Something is a tragedy because something is lost. This means that the protagonist has failed in some way to gain what he was searching for. Tragedy follows how someone's failures ruin his life or the lives of others. These things are then seen as tragedies because they elicit sympathy from the audience. Everyone can relate to failure.

To end on a happier note, it is always a good thing to remember that even though you fail time and time again, you will one day succeed at something. No one can fail at everything. Failure isn't even possible without the chance of success.