Blue Ocean Life

Author: Wang Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The cruelty of competition is something we need to experience throughout our lives, no matter what environment we are in, there will always be competition. For example, among farmers, there is competition over who has a better harvest this year and who doesn't; among students, there is competition over who scores the highest in the final exams and who comes in second. Whether it's workers, white-collar professionals, or laborers, or in the political arena or between companies, competition is fierce and cruel. I once read an article that described this: One day, a sixth-grade student in Class 4 of a certain primary school was absent, and the students started speculating about why she wasn't at school—was something wrong? As they wondered, the teacher explained that her grandfather had passed away, and she had taken leave. Hearing this, the students immediately erupted in cheers, saying that she always scored the highest in math because her grandfather was a mathematics professor, and they couldn't surpass her. Now that her grandfather was gone, they finally had a chance to surpass her. The children were so excited that they were clapping their desks and stamping their feet. The excitement of the children might make you feel a sense of indifference—how can they cheer so loudly and look so happy when someone's grandfather has died? It might even make you feel a sense of dread: When a person's pursuit of scores and status surpasses their reverence for life, what atrocities can they not commit? However, the children might have gotten excited too soon. Even if the granddaughter of the mathematics professor doesn't score the highest anymore, won't there still be new top performers in the class? If she scores the highest in math, what about Chinese, English, and other subjects? As long as there are exams, as long as there is a selection rate, and as long as there are score lines...