Oscillation

Recent discussions with a good friend have brought me back to a very old quote that I put up:

"A reasonable man adapts himself to his environment. An unreasonable man persists in attempting to adapt his environment to suit himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw

The quote is self-explanatory - to adapt oneself is to lay down one's values, and therefore to keep doing things the same way. For someone to keep fighting for what they believe in, they must keep believing, especially when the environment doesn't let them believe. That's the point when inaction tips over into activity, and people start changing the environment to accomodate themselves.

Yet, constant activity isn't possible - it requires a very manic kind of person to struggle on against improbable odds, and the odds are indeed improbable. The very human desire for improvement is matched by an equally human desire to be content with these improvements. We balance on a see-saw of these two, and finally when one side of the board is grounded for too long, we tip it back up, until our side of the board starts coming back down again.

Now, everyone exists in this state. But some people will spend most of their time in the relaxed, happy side of the board. These are the ones who are the happiest, though certainly not the most productive. A few will be constantly pushing for more, tipping the see-saw towards change. They will never truly be happy with themselves, even though people will admire their sacrifice. And a very small, elite group will have got it just right, so that the see-saw is perfectly balanced between improvement and contentedness - don't we hate them for it.