Background of the Discovery:
It is nice to be back to the familiar stage of public speaking contests I used to call my turf. Yesterday (March 11, 2017), I represented Taylor’s University Toastmasters Club in an area impromptu speech area. The outcome was different from I hoped for. The topic given was “madness creates gravity with just a push” and all contestants were required to deliver a two-minute speech spontaneously. Alas, I misheard it as “magnet creates gravity with just a push”. I moved on using the “law of attraction” mentioned in “The Secret” to express my viewpoints. I was so proud of myself as I thought I had delivered an impressive speech, which seemed to be validated by the audience’s applause. It was only after the prize giving ceremony (when the list of participants proceeding to the division contest was announced) that I was informed that I had misheard the topic. It was literally like a ride from the highest point of a roller coaster track to the lowest point. Although I went home barehanded, invisible treasures manifested themselves as I reflected on my dismal experience in the contest.
Discovery - RANKING
As a “psychology” person, I realized something when I looked at the larger picture (larger than my own emotional experience). I came to realize the potence of RANKING - judging from how it contributed to my mood swing in the contest - from excitement to dismal. Ranking is ubiquitous - from exam rankings to university rankings, Oscar awards and Olympics medal tally. Our society seems to function on rankings. Why are there rankings in our life?
Arguably, ranking is a form of labelling and discrimination. When we say‘top students’, we generally mean the top few in a class. They are the ones who usually get the attention, support and encouragement since they are seen as the more ‘hopeful’ ones. Nevertheless, I am not bemoaning that the world is unfair. That is just a product of a society’s needs. Let us take Singapore -a paradigm of elitism - as an example.
Singapore government used to be intelligence-centric. Their strong emphasis on elitism was reflected by late Lee Kuan Yew’s controversial espousal of marriage among the ‘intelligent’. Resources were heftily allocated to those academically excellent in the name of meritocracy. Under the governance of these ‘elites’, Singapore has remarkably risen to prominence from a small island nation with a dearth of natural resources (even their drinking water is from neighboring countries). Therefore, ranking (public exam results in particular) - a tool in identifying the ‘elites’ who are ruling the nation - can be said as a cardinal factor propelling the success of Singapore.
The Downside of Rankings - Singapore’s Unhappy Workers
There is an obscure price to pay behind Singapore’s nirvana-like facade - unhappy individuals. According to a 2016 survey by JobStreet.com that involved almost 70,000 workers in seven countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong), Singapore scored the lowest in Job Happiness Index. Once bewildered by the survey outcome, I now begin to fathom it.
As we can see, Singapore depended heavily on high-quality human capital to survive and thrive as a country. To be more specific, they needed people who can contribute to the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure (hence, engineers, doctors and lawyers), financial sector (hence, accountants, financial managers and economists) and technology sector (hence, IT people). In other words, the STEM people (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Since these types of people were the foremost priority, the entire system of the country would naturally gravitate towards the grooming of these human resources. As a result, those with non-mainstream flairs, such as sports, liberal arts (psychology, philosophy and sociology etc.) and arts, were sidelined.
To fit into the society, most of the sidelined would opt to mold themselves into who they are not meant to be (eg. becoming a STEM person). For example, a wannabe singer ends up sitting in an accounting firm day in and day out. If you believe that everyone is unique, these people (whose individuality are suppressed) are certainly not the minority. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, on top of security, food and belonging is self-actualization. In a first-world nation like Singapore, the quest for self-actualization is even more pronounced. Hence, the large number of unhappy workers, despite the all glamorous trappings.
What is My Point?
So, am I saying ranking is evil and should be removed? No, it is impossible to remove the foundation of a skyscraper if we want it to remain high-rising. Similarly, it is not viable to remove rankings (the embodiment of ‘elitism’) in any society that wish to become developed. Since the existence of ranking is a given, it would be wise of us to focus on making it to our advantage. If you are a STEM person, the way society works fits just perfectly for you. For non-STEM people like me (my interest is in psychology, philosophy and sociology), a tweak in our own agenda is needed.
How to cope with the rankings?
Let me get back to my experience at the Toastmasters contest. The mainstream agenda of the contest is to showcase contestants’ skills and improve them through competition. Since I know I am a ‘psychology’ person, so I could switch my agenda (or, purpose) of joining this contest to be observing my own mental state throughout the contest, other participants’ behaviors and performance. (Note that the over-100-people participants - contestants plus the audience - come from all walks of life, from university students to working adults and C-suite people). That said, a contest is an embodiment of rankings, but it also makes a good venue for psychology/sociology field study. It is through such tweak in my agenda that I have come to above realization.
Takeaway:
Everyone is a unique being, each of us is bestowed with different gifts.
Therefore, I believe the purpose of life is living out our ‘self’ - maximizing the value of the gifts we have been blessed with. In the face of the harsh reality, we should accept whatever emotions that arise. Then, capitalize on this ‘obstacle’, make it a jumping stone to uncharted territories. In my case, the expanded uncharted territory is represented by a deeper understanding of the ranking system.
May you have a nice day and enjoy the journey of conquering uncharted territory! ^_^