Saturday, July 13, 2013

World Without "O" - 'Obsession'



Previously In the A-Z series

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N

"Without obsession, life is nothing" (by John Waters)
Hi Everyone,
Today’s topic is a very negative word and I know I will start a lot of controversies with my arguments. The tile says all about the article but I will still ask the question. How do you think the world would be if there was no obsession of any kind at all? The immediate answer in most of our minds will be - very good and peaceful place. But I disagree - peaceful might be but good I don’t think so.
Once someone asked Einstein that how he was able to solve such difficult matters and problems. He replied that he kept on revisiting the problems at every moment in his head till the problem was solved. He said that if you are obsessed with solving something you will definitely solve it. In fact if we care to take a look into history, we will find that all great scientists, poets, artists, musicians, politicians, leaders, teachers, etc were obsessed with something or the other. It is their obsession that drove them for excellence and new discoveries.
We are all familiar with Edison. He was obsessed with finding the right material for the filament of the electric bulb. In the process he made over 200 discoveries and innovation. He was also obsessed with his goal. India's great sprinter Milkha Singh. P.T. Usha were obsessed with winning the Olympics. This led them to improve themselves and run that extra mile.
But every coin has two sides and there is a black side to obsession also. Problem comes when obsession becomes madness. There is a thin line dividing the two and when obsession is clouded with grief and bad intents it becomes madness. So obsession itself is not bad but the other peripherals surrounding it make it good or bad. The direction the obsession takes depends upon the route chosen.
I recently read the novel Inferno by Dan Brown and from there this article is inspired. In the novel scientist wants to save the earth by infecting everyone on earth with a virus which selectively makes the population sterile. No more reproduction, less population increase and earth can be saved. The obsession to save earth is good but the means taken to reach there are questionable. It was just an example to illustrate my point
So coming back to the question- how would the world today look like without obsession. I say it would be very backwards still, with no great inventions and innovations. Obsession is essentially good. Many questionable acts over time has made it negative and today this word is one of the most negative words in English dictionary.
Personally I think obsession is good. What do you think?
Thanks,
Genie Signing off
email: arunesh.genie@gmail.com

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