It takes all sorts to make the world

Philosophers claim that every person inhabiting Earth is a small universe, having no copies and no equivalents, and I entirely share this point of view. It may sound unbelievable, but our planet hosts more than 6 billion unique people who form our society and our civilization. Points of difference are countless and include race, nationality, appearance, character, manners, social position, economic and marital status. All these features descend from natural and social factors. However I do think that diversity is the key to global progress, as every nation contributes to the development of the humanity and considerably enriches the world’s culture.

Still, most people consider appearance to be the main distinguishing feature, and this idea is rather logical, as while getting acquainted we always draw our attention to the looks, which form our first impression of the person. We may evaluate appearance using different criteria; some of them are obvious (height, figure, complexion, color of skin, hair and eyes), the others are really subjective, especially standards of beauty. I think that beauty and standard are incompatible concepts as beauty inevitably includes charisma, charm and other faint, but really important components. An attempt to describe those using standard words is a waste of time. I appreciate both tall and short people, pale and tanned faces, curly and straight hair! Of course a person should pay attention to his/her appearance in order to look smart and impress other people.

However not everyone supports my ideas. Actually each society has developed its ideal, and people often do their best to reach it. As a result some of them turn to plastic surgery to improve, as they think, their appearance. In my humble opinion, this decision is wrong. Nature is stronger than science, and poor Michael Jackson proved it! I am sure; it is easier to realize your potential through sport exercises and clothing style.

Unfortunately, appearance may be deceptive, and my personal experience includes such events. People often become victims of those, who use their appearance just to show off. That’s why I want to develop other important issues – character and personality.

These features always lay the foundation of successful long-term interaction. In comparison with appearance, which is given by nature, characters are formed by outer factors, such as upbringing, education, social environment and circle of friends. It undoubtedly depends on cultural and religious conditions. And preferable features of character vary from country to country. For example, Japanese appreciate hard-working and good-mannered people, and Belarusians are thought to be hospitable and tolerant. Some traits, for example intelligence, courage, warm-heartiness and honesty, are globally accepted. A proverb says that contrasts attract each other, but in everyday life we try to find a partner with similar ideals, beliefs and interests. It is a real challenge, as character may be deceptive as well, and even nowadays many people find its solution in astrology!

Horoscopes have gained tremendous popularity recently. We can observe them both in popular tabloids and respected broadsheets! Some people are crazy about it and believe that space rules our world. For me it sounds a bit queer as I do not believe in higher forces and mystical facts. Success or failure is a result of your activities, that’s it! Still, everyone has a chance to choose between being a master of life or a slave of stars…

But both “masters” and “slaves” face similar problems while establishing contacts abroad. Prejudices and stereotypes are hard barriers preventing us from making foreign friends or even finding business partners. All Italians are still thought to be passionate and romantic persons, all the French are perfect cooks and all the Germans are careful drivers. This facts date back to the remote facts, to the periods of isolated societies. Now, in the epoch of globalization, they lose their meaning and seem to be inaccurate. Still, they are a deep source of jokes and anecdotes, and laughter makes our life longer!

Racism is still alive in highly-developed western countries, including the USA and Germany. Women, even hardcore professionals, have serious troubles in finding a job in Eastern countries, so businessmen should be careful, choosing a foreign representative. The price for a mistake may be too high.

And to conclude I want to say that there is always a way out. The key to success is tolerance which lets us ignore cases of misunderstanding. And I believe that all the conflicts, caused by national, ethnical or religious factors, will vanish soon, and the Earth will truly become our common home!