Commonplace: "You Always Admire What You Really Don't Understand"

There are a great many things that arouse admiration in this world of ours. Some of these things such as a creation of nature, a work of breathtaking art, scientific breakthroughs that benefit human kind, and acts of bravery are, without doubt, worthy of the admiration and the sentiment that they inspire. Unfortunately, however, human beings also fruitlessly admire a great many more things that are illusory in nature and, therefore, not really worthy of respect. Take, for instance, the human desire to be good looking, rich, successful and powerful. These qualities seem desirable purely because people who possess these attributes appear to be better off in life. But, are they really? Or, do these qualities give rise to admiration only because we don't really understand what being beautiful, wealthy, successful or powerful entails?

Perhaps, it is precisely the recognition that...
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