World works on very simple structures, probably it makes sense to simplify so that our world becomes easier to understand. Kids get graded in school on their ability. What ability is being evaluated is a complicated question but if you discard it, at least you get a heirarchy to work with. someone is a topper others average to below average. If you start looking at what was being evaluated, it will get confusing pretty fast. Is it their parent's ability to prep them for exams? Is it their ability to suck up pressure and execute, is it their smartness, is it their creativity or mix of everything? is it their luck that they end up with all the circumstances they end up with, or is it just their overall ability with everything clubbed into one? their can be a fair discussion on it.
This continues when you grow up because the complication increased a few 1000 times and now the so called simple straight forward tests have been replaced by just life in all it's glorious uncertainities. But one thing remains common, the world's simplistic belief in success and failure attached directly to ability or merit. Though the complication increased from school to adult life the simplifications get even more simplified, now we don't even want to divide success into sports and subject matter (as in school), in adult life success is just success. In general success is defined as wealth and power. There can be a debate on that. The point is - if you start talking about success in any other terms you are avoiding the main issue. The above definition has a widespread approval, the other definitions come with lot of riders.
So who is a successful person in eyes of masses - wealthy and powerful people. A kid is successful if he gets good grades, an adult is successful if he/gets promoted, runs a profitable business, is in a position of influence. This simplistic theory runs well for the world, but another simplistic theory associated with this is - Success is directly proportional to merit. Things get tricky here, because this single assumption brings a lot of turmoil into an individual's life and happiness (the common thread of this blog). In fact - success has no merit. It is the chicken and egg thing, this philosophy believes that Success comes first and then the merit gets built by itself. It is only after someone gets success it may be an exam passed, a promotion, a business venture's success or marrying the right person. whatever a person does is seen as a success or failure. The moment a person succeeds the resume is built by the society for him. If some one won a race or an exam then he should have worked hard, should be smart, maybe a genius. You will see many people come forward to tell tales how they saw the person in certain situations which proves how that person is a genius or smart or hardworking. If the same person would have done exactly same thing but not succeeded, then no one obviously would note anything special about that person, nor will that person get that kind of resume. So it is only due to success that everything changes. I think Alexandre Dumas did agree with it when he says "Nothing succeeds like success." If some one makes money or reaches a powerful position people's insecurities respect 'money and power' so much that they automatically genuflect in front of it and just assume that there has to be a reason for this.
There are 2 aspects to it - one due to belief in merit to success theory people's ego gets a hit, they figure they lost due to there inability and also they just can't figure out how that one person was better than other 100 who did the same things. This leads to unnecessary theories like naturally better, smarter person, genetically better. Then the same person fails after sometime at the same thing and then the theories need to change again! Second part is - the narrowness of the definition (Success = Money and Power) makes inroads into other moral grounds. How can this person be respected (which is a direct result of success) when this person has N number of problems? Whenever a success is being discussed you will see the above conflicts in the minds discussing it.
Believing in this theory (Success has no Merit) relieves you of your own ego and the onus of explaining every success that happens in the world. Even bigger is the by product of equality, self belief, respect and confidence (May get explained in a future blog). Success happens and that's it. I remember in War and Peace Tolstoy says (not verbatim) - in a wave of water in ocean why the top most particle of water got thrown at the top is not something to reason with. It is what it is. That's how it happened. Similarly trying to justify success or failure is bound to make you get bound in fruitless endeavor of explaining the unexplainable.
