Re: GPA's, ranking-culture

Phil Graham (pw.graham who-is-at student.qut.edu.au)
Fri, 04 Jun 1999 00:25:33 +1000

At 22:36 02-06-99 -0400, Jay wrote:
>What are the deep origins of the need to feel that others are not better
>than you?

And, conversely, what are the deep origins of the need to feel that others
_are_ better than you?

Each of these questions are extremely important, and the issues they raise,
both now and throughout history, are of the gravest importance and
consequence (Great Leaders; Icons; Idols; and, conversely, worth-less
Others, so easily defined).

How do we create a discourse of equality, of assuming that we are equal
(without being interchangeable or equivalent) in each others' eyes? This is
an especially paradoxical question in a society built upon the logic of
homogenous exchanges.

Phil