1. I've never bought this argument. "You have to do hard work that you don't want to do because it builds character." Why? Are there no other ways to build character? There are forms of hard work that you can enjoy. I worked 16-hour days 6/7 days a week for over a year once. In hindsight, I realize that was a terrible, terrible idea, and in the end I was bitter and burned out. But before that happened, I loved it and was passionate about it. It was definitely difficult and tiring work, and I learned a lot about myself and other people during the process, and have since moved on to something I'm just as passionate about, but that comes with balance. Maybe working a mind-numbing and/or back-breaking job for that period would have taught me the same things, but I prefer the path that I took. And hell, there's nothing that says someone can't have a passion for certain kinds of hard physical labor, too.
2. You can learn things about yourself through a variety of ways. This just seems so limiting. Maybe you think making fancy widgets at age 22 is the best thing ever and will make you happy because you love it. Maybe you try it, and it turns out to be a terrible idea. Maybe you learn something incredibly valuable by failing. You have the rest of your life to "get things right". Your early 20s are the best time to screw up by experimenting with different paths. Once you have a family, a mortgage, etc., it's harder to be irresponsible. (Jeez, I feel like I'm pitching "why you should start a startup" with this one.)
3. It's very rare that a particular piece of advice can be taken by everyone. Most advice has a limited audience. In this case that audience was a graduating class at a college in an affluent country. Telling a group of people who have the means to "play" and why not playing is undesirable needn't be denigrating to those who do not. There's a difference between putting down the "bad" jobs, and putting down the people who perform them. Grellas, your parents sound like amazing people, but I doubt they enjoyed the fact that they had to move to a new country and work themselves to the bone to better their conditions. It must have been very difficult to do that, and, all things being equal, I would hope that a sane person would prefer life without restrictions over one with many.
I loved this piece. A little iffy on the "don't tell the truth" part, but I think it just wasn't communicated well and came off more "always lie" than the author intended. I want to play. I have the means to do so. I just need to figure out what playing means to me. The bit on loving someone also struck a chord with me, especially the bit about society being anti-love. Rejecting someone requires but one reason, loving someone requires acceptance of everything. Very poignant.
2. You can learn things about yourself through a variety of ways. This just seems so limiting. Maybe you think making fancy widgets at age 22 is the best thing ever and will make you happy because you love it. Maybe you try it, and it turns out to be a terrible idea. Maybe you learn something incredibly valuable by failing. You have the rest of your life to "get things right". Your early 20s are the best time to screw up by experimenting with different paths. Once you have a family, a mortgage, etc., it's harder to be irresponsible. (Jeez, I feel like I'm pitching "why you should start a startup" with this one.)
3. It's very rare that a particular piece of advice can be taken by everyone. Most advice has a limited audience. In this case that audience was a graduating class at a college in an affluent country. Telling a group of people who have the means to "play" and why not playing is undesirable needn't be denigrating to those who do not. There's a difference between putting down the "bad" jobs, and putting down the people who perform them. Grellas, your parents sound like amazing people, but I doubt they enjoyed the fact that they had to move to a new country and work themselves to the bone to better their conditions. It must have been very difficult to do that, and, all things being equal, I would hope that a sane person would prefer life without restrictions over one with many.
I loved this piece. A little iffy on the "don't tell the truth" part, but I think it just wasn't communicated well and came off more "always lie" than the author intended. I want to play. I have the means to do so. I just need to figure out what playing means to me. The bit on loving someone also struck a chord with me, especially the bit about society being anti-love. Rejecting someone requires but one reason, loving someone requires acceptance of everything. Very poignant.