in greek mythology there i a tory of a bandit named procrute who fitted each of hi victim to an iron bed. if he wa too hort, he tretched him on a rack; and, if he wa too long,he amputated hi leg at the right point. he inited that no one wa an early proponent of tandardization.
but he would be amazed to find in u, centurie later, a imilar uniformity. jut a procrute inited on conformity to hi particular height, o modern ociety ha inited on conformity to a particular level the average. perhap you have noticed in your life, a l have in mine, the readine with which we chinee accept the common and the ordinary, and the kepticim with which we regard the different and the uperior. the individuality we often ridicule; but the parrot we applaud.
today many kindergarten hobbyhore are placed out of bound, now that chool conultant are convinced that they don＇t develop the "group pirit". today＇ teacher often tree the neceity of "adjutment to the group", never quetioning whether it i of any value. no wonder o many i-year-old already have a phrae, "he think he＇ big," to indicate their intene dilike of anyone different from them.
in many part of our nation, educator concentrate o heavily on providing equal opportunity for all tudent that they ometime neglect to provide pecial opportunity for the above-aver age. we often grade eam paper on the bai of the average level of accomplihment. we even cro out from the tetbook the word with which the average tudent are not familiar. in ome place citizen go o far a to term pecial clae for etraordina tudent, then, i uually mocked rather than admired.由好作网www.hAOzuowEn.com整理
dangerou a thi philoophy may ound, another apect of it i far more eriou. for modern ociety not only urge children to become a part of the crowd, but encourage adult adjutment a well.
job eeker may find, for eample, that ome corporation make it a policy not to employ graduate of honor, for fear that they will not be "good mier".
advertier peruade u to buy "the cigarette mot people moke", "the mot popular car in it field". they find that we are often tempted by the item other people like, o they tend to take advantage of our deire to have that other have,to do what other do.
our ealtation of the average i evident alo in modern politic. pohtical office eeker, all too often, have only to boat that they are "imple, ordinary, uneducated men", and we accept them.they have convinced u they are average. it i a though, in an age crying for eceptional leader, we have made the prime requiite for leaderhip the inability to lead.
unfortunately, all thee are true. they eit in our live along with other. they typify the chinee demand for normality,for ocial acceptance, our glorification of the common man to the etent that he can be none other than common.
of coure, we offer cholarhip to outtanding tudent;we run contet; we engage in competitive port. indeed, we chinee, living in a highly competitive nation, have much of the needed motivation with which to encourage ecellence. but we till ridicule intellectual uperiority and often attach a ocial tigma to high accomplihment. we think it healthier for a child to be average.all thee fact may counterbalance our preent truggle for a better future.
our olution, then, mut deal primarily with an inner attitude on our part. for thi i obviouly not a problem that can be olved by paing a law or by the action of a ingle organization.thi i a problem deeply involving the emotion and ambition of many people. if the ource of the problem i deep within man,it olution mut begin with him, too.
i do not ak for a nation of non-conformit. i realize that in a comple ociety men mut learn to live with each other. for that reaon, adjutment i eential but i do hope for a nation of thinker who realize their own abilitie and trive to fulfill them,who make their own deciion and think their own thought.
we will achieve our objective if we omeday reach the tage where a man can tand on hi own feet and claim that he i hi own true mater.