Questioning Ends

Originally posted in 2009. Reposting now because this relates directly to the 2016 Olympics, and Tishah b'Av. Also, bear in mind that this was written by the 2009 me. Nowadays, I wouldn't be so quick to initiate a discussion like this.

Artwork: Voyage's End, by Chris Rahn

Questioning Ends

Every once in a while I like to play a game I call "Socrates." The rules are simple: choose a stranger, ask yourself, "What would Socrates talk about with this person?" and initiate a conversation. The resulting discussions are usually very eye-opening, although they are usually very short. I thought it might be interesting to share an example with you. 

Last night I was in the mood to play Socrates on Facebook. Like most Facebook users, I have a large number of "friends" who aren't really friends, but old acquaintances from my past life. One of these old acquaintances - a former classmate from 10th grade, whom we'll call "Jim" - posted a quotation as his Facebook status. The quotation was from a long-distance runner named Paula Radcliffe, and said, "You just have to keep believing that one day you will win." 

I happened to know that Jim is a runner. He was a runner in high school, and from his Facebook profile, it looks as though he would like to make a career out of running. I assumed that this quotation was in reference to one of Jim's running-related goals. 

I asked myself, "What would Socrates say to Jim? Jim clearly thinks highly of this quotation, and I'm sure he'd be willing to discuss it. What should I ask him to get the discussion going?" The answer came to me pretty quickly. I clicked on the "comment" section under Jim's status and typed a single question: "Why is it important to win?" 

I chose this question because I really wanted to know. During the Beijing Olympics I often wondered what really drives these people, in their minds. If you asked them why winning is important, would they really try to rationally argue for the value of winning? Would they admit that winning isn't objectively important, but that it had always been a childhood dream which they feel compelled to achieve? Would they give an answer like, "I want to see what I am capable of" or "I want to show the world that it is possible to overcome one's limitations and achieve one's dreams"? How many of them would just shrug their shoulders and say, "For the fun of it"? And most of all, I wondered how many of them simply don't think about why they should try to win; they just go for it. 

The first response I received was from one of Jim's friends, who wrote: 

Winning is how you define it. Too many people say winning is being the 1st place in anything. I say trying your best, having fun, and learning something new have a lot to do with being a winner ... and I think you do that every day. 

A second one of Jim's friends said: 

I think what this quote means is that if you keep believing in your dreams and give the best you can day in and day out and train like there's no tomorrow, then you will win. Not in a sense of place necessarily, as [Friend #1] said, but in a sense that you have done everything you could, and in doing so, you achieve your dream (i.e. win). 

I noted that neither Friend #1 nor Friend #2 had really understood my question as I had intended it. They thought I was asking about the meaning of the quotation itself, when in truth, I was really asking about the premise of the quotation. I tried to clarify with the following comment: 

I definitely agree that it is important to believe in yourself and your dreams and to try your best, and that by doing all of these things, you increase your chances of winning. My question was not about the means, but about the end: Why is winning important? 

Is "winning" really "however you define it," as [Friend #1] said? If winning means "trying your best, having fun, and learning something new," then you don't have to believe that one day you will do these things - you can just do them today! And if achieving your dream is winning, then shouldn't you first evaluate whether your dream is a good thing before you strive to achieve it? A person might dream of climbing Mt. Everest, but if he achieves this dream, does that really make him a better person? Will it really make him happy? 

That is what I mean by: Why is winning important?

Finally, Jim responded. He said: 

The quote really means to get to the heart of not doubting it when it seems a dream is impossible. I'm headed for the 2012 Olympic trials in the 10k. This requires six miles of 4:40 per mile, if not faster. I'm nowhere near that fitness level, and to get there takes TONS: miles, time, focus, exercises, effort, etc. Believing I can banish a past of lukewarm effort with this journey is really hard to believe. So it is that belief in something so preposterous it seems highly unattainable is the belief of which Paula Radcliffe speaks. That is what speaks to me. 

I realized then that there was probably no point in going on with the discussion. It was clear that he still didn't (or couldn't) see my question, whether because of my lack of clarity or his inability to think about the ends he was pursuing. Most of all, I didn't want to risk shaking the foundations of Jim's goal in life for no good reason. 

Nevertheless, I gained a lot from this brief discussion. Thinking about Jim's state made me feel extremely grateful to the chachamim from whom I've learned, and from the Torah-system which produced them, and from the One who gave us that Torah-system. I am thankful to live a life in which self-reflection and introspection are a part of everyday living, and I am happy to have been granted the knowledge, skills, and the personal disposition which make this self-reflection and introspection possible. 

Blessed is the True Existence Who gave the Torah to Israel, His people.