Today the first stage of getting a waiver should be completed. Right now, like any Mac user, I am struggling with opening the Army forms. My old COMPAQ laptop I use for Army stuff decided to quit in the middle of downloading the file. Oh well.
In my last post I wrote about the survey of what Americans value. My wife and I were talking about the list. She said I have to make clear that the list is talking about what people value in their own lives. So when competence ranks #23 of 30 she says it is not something the respondents hold as a personal value even if they value it in others. Most people very much want competence in people around them--doctors, lawyers, police, teachers--but that does not mean they value it in themselves.
Very true. The worst sort of sports fan is exactly that. A 300-pound guy who can't run or throw across a street yet knows exactly how Tom Brady should lead the Patriots in the Superbowl. Competence is not something he values in himself.
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I'm not sure you're correct regarding competence - while self evaluation may not be particularly accurate, my suspicion is that most perceive they are, in general, competent.
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting way to look at the survey findings. I guess if the respondents assumed they themselves are competent, then maybe that is why it floated down to the bottom third of the list.
ReplyDeleteBut I have no such doubts about the place courage and friendship occupy on the list. A guy I admire very much said if Ben Franklin visited America in the 21st Century he would not be surprised by the TEA Party, Occupy Wall Street, Libertarians or the stalled money-soaked congress. But Ben would be delighted with the current state of science and technology.
In the same way, if Aristotle visited America he would also be delighted with science, but may decide that the loss of real friendship as the central part of a good life was too high a price to pay for all the other progress since ancient Greece.