Success, Failure, and Tragedy

Alain de Botton makes a witty, eloquent case for finding success in our lives in a presentation he made at TED Global 2009.

In his presentation, de Botton talks about what failure is and how it relates to our lives. He starts by defining a snob. What is a snob? According to Botton, a snob is someone who defines you using only one aspect of your appearance or character to judge you. He then ties snobbery to envy. Envy is a funny thing. Think about the Queen of England. You should be extremely envious of her. She has a bigger house, expensive jewelry, and respect. You, however, are more envious of someone who you can relate to, is your age, of your standing. Because this is when you think, I could have done that. I deserve that too.

This trend thrives in a meritocratic society, or a society that rewards you based on your merits. That's a good thing, right? Take a little talent, add a lot of hard work, and soon, you're on your way to the top. It's literally the American Dream. However, this is a two-sided coin. If we say people are where they are because of their merits and abilities, sure, we say that the people on top deserve it and are wonderful people. Unfortunately, we are also saying that the people on the bottom deserve to be on the bottom, and they're horrible people. They're losers. Failures.

That idea is what many people equate to tragedy as well. Tragedy, according to Botton, is how people fail. So, if failure equals a loser, all of the classic heroes are losers. Romeo, Hamlet, Oedipus, they're all simply losers. This is not the case. Hamlet lost, but he was not a loser. Yes, he fell from his greatness, but it was not because he was a loser. It's this thinking we need to get rid of. Our notions of success and failure come from outside suggestion. We need to make sure that our notions of success should come from ourselves.