How to Value People
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Many nowadays would say: according to their wealth.
Others to the riches would add the degree of their status, fame and influence.
In fact, when asked about the worth of persons, many people point out those attributes as being the requisites for valuing any person and consequently their degree of happiness, while fewer mention health, family, friends, and knowledge,
The formers are no surprise, since we live in a society that strongly stresses the importance of money and material success, reinforced by a media that is rife with news and accounts of successful ultra rich celebrities and powerful people living lavish lifestyles, making many to think that the acquisition of material things and mundane achievements are what define a person’s worth and therefore their happiness.
Well, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but a great evaluation of a person’s worth was put down in mathematical terms by the great 8th century Persian polymaths, astronomer, geographer and librarian al-Khawrizmi who, among other discoveries, gave to the world the Arabic numerals and algebra.
One day they asked him how to value human beings.
To them he thus replied:
If they have ethics that is, sound moral principles, then their value is 1.
If they are intelligent, then add a zero to 1, then their value is 10.
If they are rich add another zero to ten and their value will be 100.
If on top of all these they are beautiful persons, add another zero and their value will be 1000.
However, if they lose the 1, that corresponds to moral principles, or ethics, they will lose everything because what remains are only the zeros.
The question is very simple, without sound moral principles all that remain are criminals, corrupted people and bad persons.
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This is a statement about having sound morals, or putting it in another way, having integrity, a quality that is composed by honesty, altruism, humility, tolerance, responsibility, empathy and respect for all beings.
In short, without them a person is worth nothing.
Here it should be underlined that sound moral principles are not to be confused with religious, political, scientific or ideological principles, since throughout history these latter ones, for their own obscure vested interests, have often distorted the basic nature of true integrity.
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What Al Khawrizmi said was very wise. Whilst ambitions may push us to improve, without morals and ethics, there will be no true improvement. In fact quite probably the opposite.
Thanks for the reply Rachel.
In fact many people are led by populist culture and hyper consumerism to believe that power, fame and money are what everybody should aim for in order to be happy.
However, since enough never seems to be enough to those who pursue them, the result are dissatisfaction, stress and unhappiness.