I had a furious debate with my roommate on this topic today! He mentioned something about aliens taking over the world, and said that he would join the stronger side in the fight, even if the stronger side was the alien race.
He says survival is the most important thing in life, and I said that life was the most important thing in life. What I mean is someone who lives to be 30 years old could be a greater man than someone who lives to be 100 years old. Just because the old man lived 70 years longer, does that make him a stronger man? He could have been the nastiest man in the world - never helped anyone, never worked a day in his life, and never cared about anything but himself. But because he was 100, and the other man was 30, that makes him stronger?
Sheer survival doesn’t make a person strong. Out-living another doesn’t make someone stronger, nor does living only a few short years make them weaker.
Someone who joins the stronger side for survival’s sake, I say, is the weaker person (my roommate). It says that person is weak and needs the support and strength of others to make them feel safe and secure.
Do you agree or disagree? I’d really like to hear other peoples’ thoughts on this one…
I said something similar in the post about “what is love” but in the strictest sense, the person who survives is the strongest. Just because ****roaches and rats are ugly and run away instead of stay and fight doesn’t prevent them from biologically doing great: they’re everywhere!
However, I think that we tend to think of ourselves as manifestations of a set of values and ideas instead of walking chunks of meat (except maybe Phil, hey man, long time no see! ok, back on topic…). Therefore, the “strong” are those who can preserve that set of ideas under adversity. This can be as simple as not lying about who took the dollar off the counter to martyrdom. You have shown “strength” by preserving the idea you believe in. People who do this frequently are considered “strong.”
this is an opinion question. What makes us strong is like saying what makes us believe. Everyone has their own idea of strength based upon their experience in life, but this is my opinion.
I guess that which does not kill us makes us strong. Surviving through all odds