50 TED talks a year: Alain de Botton on success and failure

[sabrinamari]

#10 - Alain de Botton discusses "...a kinder, gentler philosophy of success and failure -- and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work." (16:52) - referred by vgnwtch

I enjoyed this one, as much for the speaker's wit and sense of play as for his thesis. Especially interesting was his critique of the idea of "meritocracy": if it is good that people be promoted based only on the merits of their work, does this then mean that those who aren't conventionally successful deserve whatever they get? No, says de Botton, because too much of what shapes "success" is due to factors other than merit. While he endorses the idea of striving for a just society that rewards merit, he also insists that we acknowledge it as an impossibility.

His comparison of medieval labels for the impoverished (such as "poor unfortunates") with modern labels for the poor ("losers") is well worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtSE4rglxbY

Comments

[showingup.livejournal.com]

I truly loathe the term "loser". It is such a callous,vicious way of looking at the world. In one of the |Defy the Box radio shows*, Pace of Freak Revolution talks about the ways in which language and perspective mould each other by using the example of the way she and her wife decided to eliminate "should" from their vocabulary. It's one of those principles we all kind of know about, yet I am periodically struck by how powerful it is.

* Pace is interviewed in 2 broadcasts, though I can't remember which is the relevant ep.

[faedaughter.livejournal.com]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. :) He was engaging and funny. :) I have to admit, I noticed that his shirt was new though which had me wondering what the story behind that was... its a former seamstress thing I think. ;p