Our ancestors had a saying: "Diligence compensates for lack of intelligence." This is a remarkably insightful piece of advice, both in its message and its meaning. Indeed, diligence can only "compensate" for intelligence; it cannot replace it. Intelligence and diligence are both components that contribute to a fulfilling life. It would be terrible to lack diligence, but it would be disastrous if creativity were to become extinct.
The story goes that:
There was a poor man who constantly complained about his unfortunate fate. He often wondered why he had to work so hard just to have food to eat and clothes to wear. Not only that, but sometimes, when things got tough, he didn't even have enough to eat or wear, while others lived in luxury and had nothing to worry about. This man appealed to God for help to resolve his grievances. Before God, the poor man wept and recounted his daily hardships, how he worked himself to death but still only had enough to eat each day and had nothing left over.
After recounting his story, the poor man lamented, "I find life so unfair. Why are there rich people who don't need to work hard to enjoy life, while poor people like us work tirelessly year after year and still can't achieve what they have?"
God smiled and asked, "So, in your opinion, what is fair?"
The poor man quickly replied, "Yes, Lord, I want you to let the poor and the rich start from the same point to see how they live. If after a while the rich are still rich, then I will have nothing more to complain about." God nodded and said, "Alright!" Then, God transformed a rich man into a poor man, putting them at the same starting point as the poor man. Each went to a different mountain to find a way to make a living. The mountain had a coal mine, so every day the two men worked together to mine coal and sell it at the market for money. After a year, they would see the results.
The two men worked together digging for coal. The poor man worked diligently and soon dug up a cartload of coal, which he took to the market to sell for money. He used the money to buy delicious food for his wife and children to enjoy. Things improved noticeably. The poor man felt that although the work was a little hard, the income was very stable. Life became more beautiful and lovely.
The rich man couldn't work as hard; after digging coal for only a short while, he was already tired and sweating profusely. By late afternoon, he had only dug half a cartload of coal, which he took to the market to sell. However, he only had enough money to buy a little bread.
The next day, the poor man worked hard digging for coal, while the rich man went to the market. A short while later, he returned with two very strong men who were unemployed and working as laborers to earn money. The two men went to the coal mine and, without being told, began digging diligently. The rich man simply stood and directed them. In just one morning, the rich man had two cartloads of coal. He took them to the market to sell for money and hire more workers. In this way, the amount of coal the rich man mined increased day by day, and after paying his laborers, he still had a considerable amount left over.
A year passed quickly, and the poor man remained the same, buying delicious food and sweet wine every day but saving nothing. Conversely, the other man had become wealthy, possessing a strong workforce that daily mined large quantities of coal, transporting it to the market and earning a fortune. At this point, the poor man had nothing left to complain about.
Success isn't just about putting all your effort into a job, but about how you put that effort into it to achieve the best results. Billionaire Bill Gates once said, "Being born into poverty is not your fault; but dying in poverty is entirely your fault."
That's right, diligence and hard work are incredibly important in this world, but creativity is what truly changes the world. Without creativity, we wouldn't have steam engines, internal combustion engines, or jet engines. Without creativity, the world wouldn't have massive construction sites, huge factories, or giant corporations. Without creativity, we wouldn't know anything about information technology, we wouldn't have the internet, and of course, we wouldn't have social media to chat with every day. Creativity is the most special energy that the Almighty has bestowed upon humankind with the mission of changing the world.
Creativity is one of the special states of brain activity aimed at discovering something new and superior. Scientists believe that creativity is a product of the right cerebral hemisphere, the opposite of logical thinking in the left hemisphere. The opposite of creativity is rote copying, mechanical thinking, and conservatism. Creativity can be present everywhere. In science, it's in research achievements leading to practical applications. In production, it can be in technical improvements and innovative experiences. In learning, it can be in finding a clever solution to a problem. Even in football, creativity can appear in… a simple pass. Creativity can exist anywhere, and everyone has the opportunity to be creative if they are diligent and passionate about exploration.
Creativity is an invaluable resource in its potential form, and it needs a healthy environment to be activated. Creativity needs to be nurtured from childhood, and it is something that should be cultivated and cared for in schools. It's terrible when a teacher gives an assignment: "Present your thoughts…" but then grades it according to… her own thoughts. In this case, creativity is neglected and mistreated. Remember not long ago, netizens shared a poorly graded essay about a grandmother because it was "off-topic"! The teacher's grandmother had to be a woman in a brown dress, hunched over, chewing betel nut, and sitting by the window knitting. Meanwhile, "the grandmother of today" is radiant, riding a motorbike like a rocket to… the gym! Studying history requires memorizing every event, studying geography requires knowing how to draw a map…
Speaking of formulaic writing, writer Bui Ngoc Phuc once expressed: "Abusing model essays will stifle creativity, lead to a lack of essay writing skills, cause passive reliance in learning and writing, and laziness in thinking..." Albert Einstein once said: "The supreme art of a teacher is to awaken the joy in expression and creative knowledge."
Creativity, creativity, and more creativity; the end of creativity is the end of the world. Creativity is the universal key to life. Creativity is the duty of every living being in this world. If possible, be creative in even the smallest things.
Without innovation, the world would remain just people diligently digging coal and carrying it to market. Ah, without innovation, there would be no coal trucks, no markets to sell at. That's right, without innovation, humanity would still be in the... hunter-gatherer era!
