However, today changes everything. Mr. Churchill is now very much an intriguing figure. As I scroll through the website Lifehacks, an article shares a few of Mr. Churchill's famous quotations. He once said, "You have enemies? Good. It means you've stood up for something sometime in your life." When we stand up for what we believe in, it means we are thinking for ourselves and becoming an independent thinker. It might cost us some friends and turn them into our enemies but sometimes that is worth it if what we are doing will produce good results. When we follow crowds, there is a high chance we will fall into the group thinking trap and as the result we are not doing our own thinking. More importantly, group thinking can be detrimental to society. For instance, during World War II, many Germans follow the lead of the Nazis when they sent millions of Jews to the concentration camp to be gased and died there. Many Nazis members did not have a clear idea of why they were doing such act and all they knew was the Jews were the enemies without an factual and accurate reason on why. As the result, six millions of Jews were killed and they had no one to stand up for them. Group thinking, then, is not only bad for our personal growth but it can be dangerous at the same time. Like Mr. Churchill said, it's good to make enemies sometimes, it means we are thinking and processing what is happening around us. Sometimes, it takes only one person to stand up for what is right and make the difference to the world, and we can always be that one person.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
It's Okay to Make Enemies
During my visit to London, I decided to take a guided tour in the House of Parliament. The tour guide was a Frenchman who had a perfect British accent and my group consists of mainly Australians, a few British, with the age range between middle school students to college level, and I was the lone American in the pack. The tour guide walked us, in a slow pace, from the House of Lords to the House of Commons to the Common's Library and to every compartments of the House. Each room was brightly painted with royal colors green and red and the metal parts of the furniture were painted with gilded gold-- which an employee confirmed this to me when I asked what the golden color was made up of. Then in the Member's Lobby we passed by the bronze statue of Winston Churchill. He was standing with his hands on his waste while flexing the elbow, looking stern like any officials should act like. Through out my stay in London, I have had passed by a few Winston Churchill statue and in fact I have studied and got tested about him in high school and college, but he never strike me as an interesting person.
However, today changes everything. Mr. Churchill is now very much an intriguing figure. As I scroll through the website Lifehacks, an article shares a few of Mr. Churchill's famous quotations. He once said, "You have enemies? Good. It means you've stood up for something sometime in your life." When we stand up for what we believe in, it means we are thinking for ourselves and becoming an independent thinker. It might cost us some friends and turn them into our enemies but sometimes that is worth it if what we are doing will produce good results. When we follow crowds, there is a high chance we will fall into the group thinking trap and as the result we are not doing our own thinking. More importantly, group thinking can be detrimental to society. For instance, during World War II, many Germans follow the lead of the Nazis when they sent millions of Jews to the concentration camp to be gased and died there. Many Nazis members did not have a clear idea of why they were doing such act and all they knew was the Jews were the enemies without an factual and accurate reason on why. As the result, six millions of Jews were killed and they had no one to stand up for them. Group thinking, then, is not only bad for our personal growth but it can be dangerous at the same time. Like Mr. Churchill said, it's good to make enemies sometimes, it means we are thinking and processing what is happening around us. Sometimes, it takes only one person to stand up for what is right and make the difference to the world, and we can always be that one person.
However, today changes everything. Mr. Churchill is now very much an intriguing figure. As I scroll through the website Lifehacks, an article shares a few of Mr. Churchill's famous quotations. He once said, "You have enemies? Good. It means you've stood up for something sometime in your life." When we stand up for what we believe in, it means we are thinking for ourselves and becoming an independent thinker. It might cost us some friends and turn them into our enemies but sometimes that is worth it if what we are doing will produce good results. When we follow crowds, there is a high chance we will fall into the group thinking trap and as the result we are not doing our own thinking. More importantly, group thinking can be detrimental to society. For instance, during World War II, many Germans follow the lead of the Nazis when they sent millions of Jews to the concentration camp to be gased and died there. Many Nazis members did not have a clear idea of why they were doing such act and all they knew was the Jews were the enemies without an factual and accurate reason on why. As the result, six millions of Jews were killed and they had no one to stand up for them. Group thinking, then, is not only bad for our personal growth but it can be dangerous at the same time. Like Mr. Churchill said, it's good to make enemies sometimes, it means we are thinking and processing what is happening around us. Sometimes, it takes only one person to stand up for what is right and make the difference to the world, and we can always be that one person.
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