Shakespeare's Macbeth is a great warrior on the battlefield. He seems to be in line for greatness. He is a character of great ambition and it seems he will stop at nothing to achieve that greatness. But how far is too far? Is ambition dangerous? To what extent would you go to reach your goals? Would you hurt someone else?
Please repond not only to the question but also to eachother.
Please repond not only to the question but also to eachother.
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103 comments:
Having ambition helps achieve success, but too much can be dangerous. If it meant hurting someone, I would give up on that goal, because what achievement would it be if you hurt someone in the process?
Ambition is dangerous if applied to goals that are dangerous, its not an inherently good or bad thing. Nor is danger necessarily a bad thing, for that matter.
I only have one ultimate goal, to be happy, all other goals are just secondary manifestations of that goal. I feel that this rule is applicable to all humans. Ive never seen a person who didnt behave in a manner that makes me believe being happy isnt their ultimate purpose.
People will hurt each other to be happy if thats what it comes down to, Im no exception, fortunatly though... hurting other people usually makes me unhappy. So because of that, hurting others is usually not a part of my plans for acheiving happiness. There are situations though where hurting people is an acceptable, nesscesary and justifiable part of acheiving goals.
Its difficult for me to say whether or not I agree or disagree with you Natalia, about whether one can have too much ambition. This is mostly because I find quanitifying ambition to be a difficult task, which isnt to say its impossible, just that its tricky to say the least. I think observing what the ambition is invested into, is more important than determining how much ambition has been invested. Also, not to be insulting, but I find it hard to believe you would abandon every goal you could ever have if those goals involved hurting others. Would you not hurt someone in self defense, or to protect others? Would that not be harming another for the sake of a goal?
Also, we have to ask ourselves what exactly we mean when we say "harm"? Its possible to do something to someone that they may not like, but might ultimatly be for their own "good", no? We have to be careful when we make that claim though, because the belief that we understand whats best for people better than they do, has been used to justify many terrible things.
As for how far I would go to acheive my goals, I would go as far as I felt I could go without the cost of acheiving the goal being more harmful than acheiving the goal would be beneficial. The odds of my actually being able to acheive the goal, would also be a factor.
I think that ambition is a key factor in success, without it everyone would just give up before achieving anything. I also think however that in some cases ambition can be a dangerous force. Such cases when ambition takes on such a quality involve times when other people stand in the way of one's goal, in these cases excess ambition can lead to unneeded hostility or violence. So in my opinion it is good to have an ambitious approach toward one's goals as long as doing so does not harm others.
Ambition can be a great thing to have and be used to do good things for yourself and other people. But,when ambition becomes sefl-centered it can be dangerous. If achiving my goals meant hurting someone else, it wouldn't be worth it.
I can understand what Eric is saying when he questions Natalia about giving up her every goal for the betterment of others. But that all depends on what kind of person you are. Some people are willing to sacrafice their dreams for others.
As for how far I would go to achieve my goals, I think it depends on the goal in mind and the situations that were currently obstructing me from achieving it.
And though is a bit contradictory to my previous statement, I see that many goals can not be achieved by at least a little sacrifice on someone's part. So as a means of rephrasing my previous statement "one should try to achieve one's goals whilst trying to do so without harming (be it mentally or physically) others as much as possible".
Stephanie is right, it is based on what kind of a person it is and what they are trying to achieve.
Obviously, not all goals are the same, and it also depends on the situation people find themselves in.
Eric, you have a good point, because there are times when we hurt others in self-defense, and or to protect others when we're trying to get to something. I wouldn't give up on every dream, but i would sacrifice for others.
Anyway, not all dreams/goals involve hurting others. It's all a matter of situation.
Actually, too much ambition CAN be dangerous. An obvious example is that when you have too much will to achieve a goal, you'll literally do anything to achieve those goals, such as ignoring your morals and hurting people.
Another example of how too much ambition can hurt someone can be answered by looking at the sentence a little differently. If you look at this question as it asking how too many ambitions/goals can affect someone, you’ll still get a negative answer. If you put all your strength into, lets say, achieving 14 very important goals for yourself, your will to achieve all these goals can not only make you blind of everything but that ambition, but it will also wear you out. (Not to say that many ambitions are a bad thing, but only if you limit the amount of work to achieve them all)
Personally, I’m not very sure how to answer what I would do if I had a wild ambition, since it depends on the situations you’ll be facing. To achieve a goal, you need to go through a lot of obstacles, that including people. Perhaps you’re incredibly strategic and know how to harm an “obstacle”/person and make it better for them through that harm, and still make it to your goal. In that case, I would probably take the risk of harming somebody.
sentence a little differently. If you look at this question
(By the way, this is Natalia from period 8)
Oh yeah, this is Natalia Z. again. I only posted this comment and the one above this one. Sorry, i just didn't want to confuse anyone. :P
Everyone has great points but it seems that we're all overlooking the people who are ambitious for the wrong reasons. When those people's only goals are to hurt one another, it obviously becomes dangerous. If Macbeth is known as ambitious because he fights and kills others, how can you say that is ambitious? The warriors he's killing seem to be just as ambitious to kill him than he is to kill them. Why can't they put all that desire together and find a middle ground... peace.
I know that my goals are very special to myself and I'm sure that everyone's personal goals are important to the withholder but if our goals were to collide, which in several cases they do, would you go on to be the one who forces their way through or would you back down to help someone else achieve their goal? At this point you realize just to what extent you were to go to get that goal.
I also see Eric's point which shows that although people may care about others, in many situations there are more than just 2 people involved. For this reason almost always, no more than 1 person can achieve that greatness. In this case, you would have to be either the person who is fighting their way past or the one who is defeated.
Some might say that if you were to back down you are showing that you aren't as ambitious as the next person. But is this true? Sometimes the winner doesn't get the best hand dealt. In any competition whether it be fighting for your goals, to winning a soccer game or getting the job of a lifetime someone must always be the one to not reach that goal. Therefore, are we all being "dangerous" or going too far? I don't think so. To fight for what we want you need to have ambition. If you were to achieve success without having that as a goal you are hurting the one you defeated because you took something from them that they truly wanted.
It is a common part of life. People are always competing, therefore it is impossible to never "hurt" someone else.
Ambition all depends on the situation. If you are trying to achieve something "bad" then too much ambition can be potentially dangerous. While, if trying to achieve a positive goal ambition can be good. The tricky part is where to stop,if you are going to hurt someone. But, you have to think about whether hurting that person will benefit them in the long run or ultimately just hurt them. If that's the case then you need to know where to draw the line to save yourself and others.
This was Becky C, just to let you know.
Ambition itself isn't good or bad. It's how you use your ambition that will make it good or bad. It can definitely be dangerous especially if you decide to hurt someone else to achieve your goal. What happens when the goal you strived for leaves you wanting more? Is the goal worth it? If you know that this goal is completely satisfying, then I would say do everything you can to reach it. However, if there is any doubt about whether it is what you truly want, I don't think it is worth hurting others for.
How does someone know what too far is? Too far isn't always black and white. What happens when you realize you went too far after it has already happened? There is no way to be sure whether your ambition will end up hurting someone. You just have to assess that as you go. How do you deal with hurting someone after you realize you have done wrong? Is the action that resulted from your ambition excusable? Going too far all depends on what your definition of too far is. For example, physically, would it be wounding someone or killing them?
People are very hard to please these days. When Macbeth took place it was definitely different than it is now. Now there are less necessities and more indulgences. Today, people will do anything as long as they are happy. To reiterate what Eric said, people will definitely hurt others to be happy. Unfortunately that's just how people have come to be. Their ambition to make their life better than those around them is what caused them to lose sight of morals. It is funny though, how as a society we accept and agree with some people hurting others to get where they are, yet at the same time we scold others for hurting people.
I agree with Teikyo, ambition definitely is a key part of success. However, in order to assess whether it is good to be very ambitious while achieving a goal you have to really evaluate the goal and your definition of success. For example, if the goal was love I could see hurting someone else to achieve it, but if it was fame or fortune, something materialistic like that, I don't agree with hurting others.
Ambition can be looked at differently. I would say ambition its self isn't dangerous but how far ones ambition takes them can be. Having ambition is what leads someone to success, but sometimes its hard to determine if you're going too far. When do you know you've gone too far?
Unfortunatley today, most people are very self-centered and will do whatever it takes to achieve they're goal, even if that means they are hurting someone else. Everyone has they're own idea of "too far" and some would go farther than others to reach theire goals.
Personally, I dont think physically hurting someone else would be worth it. But, like Eric said, everyone is ultimatley trying to make themselves happy. If reaching happiness means hurting someone else, people have no problem doing it. A big part of life is competition, and if you want to achieve your goals you are most likely going to be competing with someone else. For example if your goal was to become famous, you have to compete with all the other people out there trying to become famous. Whoever is the one to reach that goal is going to be hurting everyone else that wasnt able to.
The ambition one has to achieve they're goals can lead to hurting someone weather it is intended or not. The ambition isn't dangerous, it's the person with the ambition that could be dangerous.
To start i agree completely with Jessie. TO achieve your goals you have to be ambitious and feel like you are going to accomplish something successful. You have to know when the right timing is to be ambitious because in dangerous situations it can lead to even worse outcomes than you implied.
In all acutality some people set too many goals on themselves, just like Macbeth. You need to know when enough is enough and when its time to stop. As Teikyo explains that if you dont stop then things could lead to violence or pain from others. If your goal is to do something for the better than by all means strive for the best and achieve it. I know myself that I always strive to achieve greatness and I wont stop until my job is finished.
I myself would never hurt another person to achieve my goals. There is always such a thing as healthy competition between people but I would never go to the extent of causing pain towards others because I wouldn't want that to happen to me.
So, in some cases yes ambition could be dangerous but it depends on the person and it depends on the situation. I would have to say in most cases, ambition is more of a strive for the better.
I have to agree with Breanna, that ambition itself if not dangerous but when taken to an extent it can be. I believe that ambition is a good thing and agree with everyone that it is a key component to success. But when ambition is taken too far, it can become dangerous.
In today's world you always see people never stopping to achieve greatness. They are always pushing the envelope. But some people get so caught up in their goals that when they reach them it's never enough, they will always keep going to challenge themselves.
I agree with both Jessie and Steph. I agree with Steph by hurting someone depends on your personality. I know that I would rather give up my dreams and goals for someone else instead of hurting them. But I also agree with Jessie that it depends on Macbeth's goals, if it was power or anything materialistic than it is not worth hurting anyone. But if it was for love or family, then I would consider hurting someone.
I personally don’t think that ambition is dangerous. If you want to achieve any goal in life no mater what it may be, you need ambition to keep pushing you forward. Ambition really all depends on the person, some people have more of it than others.
Overall, Ambition can only get dangerous when you take it to extreme lengths which may in the end, hurt other people around you. I agree with Whitney when she said “It is a common part of life. People are always competing, therefore it is impossible to never "hurt" someone else.” In life, people will always have the same common goals they want to achieve, thus making it difficult to not hurt someone else when you both are striving for the same achievement. Personally, I would go to any extent to reach my goal if it was something I really wanted in my life. The only way I would be cautious of my ambition is if I was hurting someone I truly cared about along the way... other than that there’s not much stopping me. No matter what decisions you make in life, you’re always going to hurt someone else. You just need to ask yourself how much that person means to you and is your goal really worth hurting other people or that other person?
I agree that ambition is dangerous if the goal that you are trying to reach is dangerous.
If hurting someone else means killing someone, then yes, ambition is dangerous. But if hurting someone in the terms of a sport, such as football I do not believe that type of ambition is dangerous. In certain standards that is. You don't want to be the greatest and hurt others on purpose.
But if hurting someone such as in "real life" then ambition is truly dangerous.
I agree with Stephanie saying that ambition can be dangerous when it becomes self-centered.
Ambition is only a good or bad thing when it is the means to a good or band end. Otherwise, it is an inherently neutral thing.
But how far is too far? Is ambition dangerous? To what extent would you go to reach your goals? Would you hurt someone else?
I would have to agree with Natalia and Teikyo in saying that ambition is a great way to achieve success in what you do and without it you could get almost nowhere in life. But ambition can eventually be dangerous when it comes to hurting others in the process.
Depending on what it was and who i would have to hurt to get it, I would most likely stop what i was striving for so i wouldn't hurt anyone in the end. Even if i achieved my goal, I wouldn't feel as accomplished because someone I care about got hurt.
Everyone has goals. I think that we can all agree on that. But when those goals turn into compete power something has gone wrong. No one should have control over what other people do. You are the only person in control of yourself. When people are competing for a common goal, everyone is for themselves. But when people try to use their own ambitions to turn someone else's goals into what they want, danger has come.
It is hard to see what might be dangerous since there are almost always more than one perspective. What is dangerous to one person might not be to the next.
I agree that each situation would need to be looked at individually to see if the ambition becomes dangerous. But in terms of hurting someone else, there really is no way to get around achieving your goal and hurting someone else. There are however different degrees as to how hurtful your ambition is. There is hurting someone because you won the competition and then there's hurting someone almost purposely so that you could reach your goal and they couldn't reach theirs. There is always one main winner and everyone else are just simply runner ups.
In this way life in general is dangerous because we are all constantly fighting to reach our goals. Like I said earlier, only when you take this power too far, are you becoming dangerous and a threat to others.
I too agree with Stephanie and Brett in this that becoming self centered is dangerous. Without thinking about the other people's dreams involved you are taking your rightful power too far.
I really agree with what Whitney said about the different perspectives. I believe that when someone is so focused on getting what they want and they will use ambition and everyhting in their power to get it, they are not always aware of what is dangerous. They would be in denial of what other people tell them is dangerous and harmful to others.
By getting so caught up by what they want and what they are going for, people would lose their perspective on the situation and sometimes not make the best decision for everyone at the time.
Having ambition is a good motivator to have only if whatever you are doing is in a good way. If you try to achieve ambition in a bad way them that wouldn't really be success or achieving ambition it would be greedy and thats not really what most people want to do on their way to success/having ambiton. Too much ambition in my opinion is dangerous because it can ultimately bring failure and you can then never be successful
An example would be from the first knight when Maleagant tried to over throw King Arthur. Maleagant had a lot of ambition to really take over Camelot he kidnapped Guinavier and even made a lot of attacks against the kingdom. When his last attempt was made he failed and thus ended this ambition to success.
To reach my goal i would never go as far as hurting anyone to get what I want, i would try any other way but hurting someone in the process wouldn't in the end give me success it would bring failure.
Ambition is a good quality to have in moderation. To be too ambitious can be very dangerous because if you are too stuck on one mind set and one goal, then your morals seem to fade and you find yourself doing absolutely whatever it takes to succeed your goal. I don’t think that should ever be anyone’s mind set because that is very dangerous. Hurting other people to get what you want isn’t truly in the end what you really wanted.
I agree with what Whitney and Erin are saying about the power you get when you are being so ambitious I very dangerous. Once you get that power you tend to lose track of your main goal and the morals you had from the get go. So maybe ambition isn’t that actual dangerous thing, maybe it’s the power that comes with it.
Ambition means that someone has an urge to succeed, usually at any cost.
However, most people don't really have a plan that will last the entire time. Something will always come up that can change the course of this person's dream. Whether it means that person has to go somewhere to accomplish this dream or won't accomplish this dream.
Up until now, I have an idea on what my dream is. Do I know that my dream will be accomplished? No. Do I know that my dream will go according to plan? No. However I do believe that every little thing has a purpose. Even if that little thing can snowball effect into something as drastic as changing someone's life. I don't know just yet if my ambition will hurt someone, and not yet do I know if my ambition has already hurt someone.
Too much ambition can be dangerous, as many people know what effects can happen from too much ambition. Like Eric said, people can and will do anything just to be happy.
To have ambition means that the person has a willingness to accomplish that goal. The ambition is not dangerous unless it is a dangerous goal that is wanted to be reached. Sadly in our world we all are tought, intentionaly or not to do what we have to do to reach our goals. It is really just up to the person to listen or not. I personaly would not want to hurt anohter in the process of reaching a goal along with most but that doesnt mean that people dont do it. It really comes down to just decide what you think is more important.
I agree and disagree with Melissa and Brett. I think that ambition has different levels and it means something different to each person. Someone can be so ambitious to reach his or her goals and dreams that nothing or no one can get in their way. This mentality can easily become very dangerous and there is a limit to which someone should be ambitious. Although I would never be so ambitious to hurt someone else, or even myself, I can see how someone else may want something so bad that they would eliminate any bump in the road that would stall them from the attainment of their dreams.
Ambition is a key component to reach any goal; whether it is to win a game, pass a class, or even to finish your homework. Without ambition there would be no drive to finish or complete a task. As Amy said, moderation is a valuable aspect in many things as well as to what extent you are ambitious.
Personally I strongly believe that ambition is a key aspect in being successful. Ambition is just as important as courage, bravery, drive, etc. in becoming successful and achieving your goals.
I agree with a lot of what people are saying on here like Bre said, ambition is great but what matters is how far you take it. You can take it to a point where ambition takes over you and when you get to that point its like there is no return.
Like Romeo and Juliet for example, they had so much love that they would do anything to be with eachother. And at the same time they had ambition to do whatever it took to reach that goal and in the end 4 people died. However, there was a lot of different ambitions but mainly romeo and juliet both died for eachother because their ambition and love took over. Mercutio died because Tybalt killed him and then Romeo had an ambition to kill tybalt for killing mercutio.
Not saying that ambition always goes to far it just matters as to how far you will take it. Eric is also right, everyone has a goal and that is to be happy. That shouldnt be a problem but when there are things you want like a position in a team or a job at work some people will do absolutely anything to get it to "make them happy".
However, how can you be happy when your bringing down or hurting someone else. College for example everyone has an ambition to go to a certain college and you have to work to get into that college and there should be no reason to take it far because its up to you and how hard you work and push yourself to do your best and achieve your goal. Thats healthy ambition. If you took it to the point where you were threatening people to get into that college how ridiculous that sounds obviously that turns into being unhealthy and extremely dangerous.
to be straight up its just how far you take it but ambition is always a good and healthy push in life. Everyone needs to want and work for something and you need ambition to get there. :)
I believe ambition is dangerous if you danger others. I agree with Natalia's comment about what achievement would if be if you hurt someone else. I think you should achieve your goals but be also cautious too. I would give my goals up if they would hurt someone because in the end it wouldn't be worth it. I think everyone should be daring and want to achieve many things in life however; you shouldn't put anyone in danger because who would want to destroy someone else’s dreams or goals.
However, I agree with Teyko's comment about how ambition is a key factor to success. I believe without having goals your never going to achieve anything. I believe once you achieve one thing you then can accomplish many things.
I agree with what Mariah was saying ambition is important and without ambition we would never be able to get anything done. For instance if I didn't have ambition and tried hard in school then I wouldn't be able to go to the college that I want to and maybe not even be able to do what I want to do as a career as well. Also we need healthy competition so will do our best and not slack off, take the apprentice for example, they all have ambition to get their dream jobs and make the best of their abilities.
Also to much ambition can be very dangerous because your dreams can consume you and it will take over your life. My Uncle is super ambitious and he regrets it sometimes because he hasn't spent as much time with his family and the people he cares most about because he was too busy trying to succeed. I think that you need to find a balance and make sure no matter what you still keep your priorities in order and make sure you don't let your ambition keep you from making time for people and activities that you care about.
I would never hurt anyone in the process of achieving my ambitions. I agree with Natalia in saying that too much can be a very bad thing. I agree with Teikyo about ambition being a great thing to have. Ambition is the thing that drives people to do the best they can to achieve their goals.
that is an unattainable goal. it is impossible for one to make a decision without causing harm to another. even if you were to lock yourself in your room for the rest of your life, all of the people you WOULDN'T effect, perhaps positively, would remain unaffected, and perhaps harmed by your not interfering.
I agree with you, Patrick, that even by not doing anything you'd be hurting someone if even indirectly, but that is only if you look at it from the negative side of things. As with all things, if something's negative for someone it is likely positive to someone else. It's all just a matter if perspective.
By the way I only say this as a comment not to discard anyone's ideas. I just want to get that idea out there.
I agree with Teikyo and think that ambition is a driving factor in success. However, it is possible that you can be so blinded by your own ambition that you might willingly hurt other people you would not have done so under normal circumstances. Basically, Ambition is a good thing, but too much of it can cause harm to others or yourself so it can be dangerous.
Everyone(including me) hurts others by having ambition at some point in their life. Whether they do it knowingly or not. They are so intent on reaching their goal that they dont really see the damage there creating. In retrospect it might look cruel or mean but at the time it might have seemed to be the right thing to do.
Ambition is a good healthy thing to have. We know our ambition has gone to far once we compromise our morals to reach our goals. As humans we are selfish beings that will do what it takes to get what we want. On the other hand as a whole we value honesty, kindness, and everything else that makes a good person. Just because we value them doesnt mean we always follow them but that we as a whole strive to be them. When it comes to hurting someone else to get what we want i think that most will not go to the extent of physically hurting someone but we will cheat, scam, or do anything else sneaky that we think we can get away with to achieve the goal.
I believe that ambition is neccesary for any type of success. You need a drive to achiece the goal in mind. If you dont have ambition, once you hit a bump in the road, you will just give up becuase the work you will need to put in will not be worth your time. Therefore, you will accomplish nothing.
As far as hurting others, I dont feel as though you need to hurt someone to get where you want. But if it does so happen that you hurt someone along the way i think thats fine, becuase if you didnt hurt them you wouldnt reach your goal...and overall just hurt yourself.
I think that ambition is an important quality to have. If you have a dream, then you should do what you can to achieve it, as long as you don't bring others down in the process.
In my opinion, no one should bring another person down for their own benefit. To me that seems selfish. I believe that if you have a dream, then go for it, be ambitous about it, but don't for any reason prevent someone else from accomplishing their dream.
To me, ambition can be both good and bad either way you look at it, depending on what kind of person you are.
Some people need ambition to strive for a certain goal they're trying to achieve and use it for the right reasons. This may be to better themselves or anyone around them, which is clearly a positive thing.
On the other hand, ambition can be bad or even scary. People who will do anything to achieve a goal might do something to harm others to get to where they want to be.
This is wrong, and I don't think it's fair. If you have a goal, that's great... go for it, but if you need to hurt someone whether it be mentally or physically, I think that's wrong. Nothing in life is worth harming someone else just to benefit yourself. To me, that's just being selfish.
Don't get me wrong, if you're competing against someone, and the entire point is to win, and obviously in the end someone is going to get hurt, that's something different... but putting someone else down for no reason isn't right. Obviously, everything just depends on the situation you're put in. Hopefully, if you have the right judgment, you'll make the right move..........
HI. so my mom finally let me get an account!
Anyways. Ambition a a great thing, as like anything else, as long as it is in moderation. Quoting Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, "A man has to know his limitations." Like Natalia said, too much can be dangerous.
Also, the amount of ambition needed really depends on what is being done. If you are trying to finish the mile 2 mins earlier than the last time you ran, then ambition is good. If you are going to hurt people in trying to complete your goal, say taking over a country in a dictatorship, then yes, ambition can be very bad.
Quoting Uncle Ben in Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." MacBeth has a great power bring that he is a strong and great warrior. He lets this get to his head and becomes very power-hungry. HE dosent accept his responsibility of having to keep others save because he has too much ambition.
I would go as far as i needed to go with out hurting others extremely to reach my goals. i am adding the "extremely" to that because, like in many goals, there is usually some competition. In compitition, people are very likely to get hurt whether is be physically or emotionally. sometimes the hurt is completely unavoidable.
There are also times when it could be better that everyone loses, including yourself, rather than only one person winning. It may hurt you at the moment but it could help you in the long run, especially if other people are involved (the human factor). This human factor maks many decisions too difficult to make a 100% correct decision. When you cannot make a 100% sure decision, you may not fully reach your goals, thus not fulfilling your ambitions.
Along with what Eric said, i agree that I also have one goal in life, mine is also to be happy. I hate to admit it but in order to be happy, i do have to hurt some people.
I agree with Nicole, there are varying levels of ambition and goals. One person could just have a goal to wake up tomorrow and eat something different. However, another person could have a goal to wake up and save someone's life.
There are varying levels of goals thus resulting to varying levels of ambition. However I have no right to judge how much or how little ambition a person has just by their looks, I think I can make an assumption over personality. If this person is outgoing and adventure-loving then this person would have more ambition compared to a person who is lazy.
I can personally say I am ambitious, but will I go so far as to ruin someone's life? No. But I'll only let a few things come between me and my dreams.
I would like to say that I would never hurt anyone by beginning too ambitious but I can't say that i will never hurt anyone because I don't know what situations I will come across in my life. Also sometimes you can make a decision that you think wont hurt anyone and it actually can. I hope that I will never intentionally hurt someone with the decisions I make and by being ambitious but I can't know for sure and its so easy to say that you will never hurt anyone because you think its wrong but its all situational and nobody is perfect and we are bound accidentally hurt someone eventually.
I agree that having ambition is really important. Without any ambition then you'll never reach any goal you set for yourself.
But I also agree with everyone saying that too much ambition can be dangerous. If you get too focused on one specific goal then you lose sight of everything around you. You'll hurt others you care about and will probably end up doing stupid stuff.Too much ambition is definitely dangerous, especially if you have a dangerous goal in mind.
I think ambition can help you achieve many things in life because it's really something you bring upon yourself. If you don't use your ambition, then it's not dangerous or useful at all. so I think it can take you far, and it can go too far when you risk different things for it and start losing out.
It can be dangerous really if you make it dangerous. If you use your ambition in a bad way to get yourself in a better place or position, it can be beneficial at the time, but may not work out as you planned it. So I do think you should go after your goals, but depending on the goal it is. If it has to do with work and getting a promotion, them I would so go for it because Business is competitive and may the best man win. I don't think of going to work to make friends and hang out with them, I think of it as getting to where you want to be in your life and make it happen. So you can hurt someones feelings for a job if you're getting the higher position. They can't hate you there because they're looking up to you. If the senario is with a smaller idea like sports, then it is different because if someone is better than you but made a few mistakes, you don't want to point that out because you don't know how you might do in their spot. you could do worse, and what you give you always recieve 10x worse. So if you rag on someone, you're going to get it worse from someone else. It's called payback and it is a part of life because almost everyone in this generation likes to see eye-to-eye with one another.
I agree with vicki. Ambition is what you need to accomplish your goals and to get things done. But there comes a point where too much ambition can be dangerous and in the process of getting what you want, you end up doing more harm than good. You not only have to look out for yourself but it is important to also look out for those around you.
Ambition is very important in life. Without it no one would accomplish anything because they wouldn't care about it. Like everything else in life, moderation in the key. If people aren’t moderately ambitious, the situation can become dangerous. When you are reckless about achieving your goal, you don't have regard for life or anything else for that matter. Like Ben said, family and other things that would normally be important to you can become irrelevant. The key to being moderately ambitious is to adjust your goals and expectations as time goes by to prevent this from happening. If you don't, you will do whatever it takes to reach your goal even if it means hurting others.
I agree with Ashley and think that ambition can be a healthy driving factor in many people's lives, but you need to look out for yourself and others because having too much ambition is dangerous.
I agree with what John said. Without any ambition nothing would ever get done. But moderation is the key. Too much ambition, even for a good cause, will end up hurting someone. You just need to find the right balance between not enough and too much.
I also agree with John. He is right that the key is moderation. Everything you do needs moderation. If you are too ambitious, you will end up hurting someone in the end. But if you are not ambitious at all, you will probably not end up going far.
So if you moderate how ambitious you are, you will achieve your goals.
I think John hit it right on the spot, but there is so much great ideas, that opinions will change.
I agree that ambition is a good thing and a bad thing. I agree with Patrick’s statement about how that ambition is an unattainable goal and how it is impossible for one to make a decision without causing harm to another.
He changed my outlook on how you can cause harm to another because there never is someone who will agree with your decisions. But it depends on your perspective whether you can handle harming another when trying to be successful. In situations it may be worth it or it may be not it all depends on your preference. However, I would prefer the choice that would benefit everyone and myself because then you feel I made the right choice.
Teikyo's comment really just proves my own. There may be an upside to some things, but there is always a downside. each decision we make in life causes both a good and bad effect. However, ambition is what allows humans to overcome their empathy towards others and achieve. Its just a big example of Shroedinger's Cat, if any of you have heard of that experiment. In this proposed (it was never done) experiment, a cat would be placed in a box with a vial of poison that would be unsealed at a random moment in time. Until the box is opened, one person can say the cat is alive, and the other can say it is dead, and both people will be equally right and equally wrong, thus the cat can be thought of as both alive and dead at the same time. This can be applied to all decisions in life. Say you don't know whether to pick up some money on the sidewalk. It is just a small amount, perhaps a dollar. Say that if you pick up the money, someone else is deprived of the money, and if you don't, you are deprived of the money. Until you pick up the money, you don't know what the results will be. Thus, you can be thought of as either saving to people slight distress or keeping them from being happy at the same time.
I agree with Mithun in saying that our ambitions will hurt somebody at some point in time. I also agree with Malissawhen she said that ambition is a great tyhing to have, but it's too much when it starts to compramise our morals and integrity. Ambition is our drive and most people will do anything to obtain it.
I have to agree with what Teikyo said. If no one had any ambition then no one would really have any motivation to attempt let alone accomplish anything. Ambition really is the only thing that keeps people driving towards their goals and aspirations and without it nothing would get done. I do however think that this could be potentially dangerous or harmful for someone else because many over ambitious people have been known to hurt someone else in order to reach their goals. For example two years ago on the backup place kicker for the Colorado University football team stabbed the starting kicker in the leg in order to try to reach his goal of starter for his team which is really an exaggeration of being over ambitious and that case it is very dangerous for someone's physical and mental health. I personally think that is ridiculous and would not go to the extent of harming someone else in order to reach a goal like that.
I agree with e kiniry about how far my ambition would go depending on what I was trying to accomplish. If my goal was small, like finishing a book in a certain amount of days then my ambition level would be low. But if I was trying to achieve something like getting a promotion at work I would have a higher level of ambition.
I think Whitney made some amazing points. Some people have ambition but put their energy in trying to achieve a wrongful goal. I also agree with the point Whitney made about "dangerous" not always being about being the victor. Someone always has to be defeted or lose. But if achieving a goal that is good without hurting the other in a debilitating manner then the goal should be sought out.
For my first post I'll try and answer all parts of the question:
Ambition is a very strong character trait. Being full of it can sometimes be dangerous. For me personally going to far would be when I would be going above my needs and doing whatever it takes to get what I want even though I may not need it. I'm a pretty content person so I would never take it that far anyways. If you went after everything you wanted in life doing whatever it takes that is when ambition is dangerous. I would do whatever it takes to situate myself so that I am content with what I have. For example, if I had a family that I could not support I would do anything in my power to supply so they are content, making me content.
Why be so ambitious that you hurt someone? Mithun made a good point on how everyone will hurt someone sometime in there life because of ambition. But there are different levels of hurting people. People fight for things everyday and someone always gets hurt in the end, grades, positions, sports, etc. However, thats ambition with competition and that is understandable. When it comes down to physically hurting someone that is just wrong. That is taking ambition to far. There are also other options and ways to go around things there is no reason to physically hurt someone to get what you want it may take a little more effort and time to go around and take the long way but you will feel way more satisfied and it will mean so much more in the long run.
I agree with what Gina is saying. Having ambition is good and letting other people stop you isn't what you need in life. If you weren't ambitious then you wouldn't achieve your goals and exceed you dreams. Hurting people on your ambitious ways to achieve your goal isn’t totally wrong, it may seem selfish, but it’s your dream to fulfill. If you are going to hurt someone then do it for a good purpose, and if it was a friend, a good friend will understand later. Obviously I’m not saying extreme extends like killing, but otherwise no one should stop you from fulfilling your goals. The only way to get what you want out of your life is to have a lot of ambition and sometimes people can try and stop you from reaching their goals, but it is up to you and your ambition to reach your goals.
Ambition is dangerous when your goals can harm people but if you truely want your goals there shouldn't be nothing in your way to stop you. If your goal is that important to you, then hurting someone to get your goal shouldn't matter. But if you know that your goal might cause harm and you're not willing to do whatever it takes to compplete that goal then you should revise your goal.
Ill try and respond to someone's comment.
Grecki x3 talked about how hurting someone is going to far with your ambitions. Im going to have to completely bash out on your previous comment. Clearly, all types of ambition are perfectly acceptable in any society. For example, if you were obtained by Germans during the Holocaust and sent to a Concentration Camp obviously your ambition is to LIVE. Also, since you are being harmed for no reason, is there really any wrong in hurting any foe that has already brought upon an unfair punishment to you? You cant just let yourself die. In a situation like that you would be doing everything you can to stay alive. If that includes killing your captors, I see nothing wrong with it. If you were not ambitious in a time like the Holocaust and didn't have the desire to live, you would not have made it. YAY Bashing!
I agree with everyone that ambition is a great thing to have on the inside. however, some people actually do take it the wrong way and will stop at nothing to achieve it. many great leaders have done this and were sometimes looked as heroes and villians. But having too much ambition is a problem if you're not willing to do sacrifice everything for it. If it meant hurting someone trying to achieve a goal, then sometimes it has to happen because everyone in this world is going to get hurt at something in their lives. Ambition can be dangerous when you realize that you can't do anything to change your decision. To have ambition, you need to understand and accept the decisions before hand and once you achieved your goal, there's no going back.
First off, I don't believe ambition is dangerous. Ambition should be apart of everybody's lives and it is good to have a lot of ambition; it helps achieve your goals. However if you have a dream that you're going after and you do things that aren't necessarily moral or legal to acheive that dream, then that's dangerous. However I wouldn't consider that being ambitious. In particular, hurting another person to get at your goals/dreams in life would not be ambitious. That would be immoral and not fair to people who have real ambition.
That leads to my next point that there is a limit to ones ambition, and it is possible to go too far. In order to reach my goals, I would do anything I could to reach them as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. I would probably do things that may interfere with other people's goals to reach mine, but nothing as far as intentionally harming them.
Many people are saying that they won't hurt anyone to achieve their goals but one time or another they have hurt someone in the past. What happens when you don't realize until after that you have hurt them? There is no way to stop yourself when your ambition is driving you to achieve a goal. No matter how hard you try you're going to get a little caught up and your ambition will get the best of you. It's not that easy to just stop trying to achieve a goal. Say your extremely close and in order to achieve your goal you only need to hurt one person. Would you do it? Many people would even though they say now that they wouldn't.
Complete power like what Macbeth strives for can get very bad. It can turn bad fast. He got the title of Thane of Cawdor and right after started thinking that if he killed the King he would become King like the witches predicted. His ambition of having ultimate power kicked in right away. How do you just ignore that intense feeling? It's probably much harder then just saying oh it's not worth it to hurt one person.
I agree and disagree with Chris. Ambition should be a part of everyones life. But it is still ambition even if it your goal is to intentionally hurt someone. In that case ambition can be dangerous.
I dont think that I would intentionally hurt someone to reach my goals, but I cant say that I'll never hurt someone by accident. You never know whats going to happen when two people's goals collide.
In class we talked about jobs. And many people said that they would do anything to get a better position for money sake. Even if that meant hurting or secretly going around a person to get their job. So if you want that job enough, ambition is obviously involved. Therefore, I think people will hurt others. Even if that means little things, such as not sticking up for a person in a situation which in the end you are benefited. So i do think that people do what they think is necessary when ambition in involved and unfortunately, as much as we hate to admit it, we are willing to sacrifice another person to get to our goals.
Although I still believe that you shouldn't bring others down in order to achieve your goals, I agree with Jessie. I think that whether we intend to or not, our ambitions can lead to hurting someone else. Like she said, our ambitions can get the best of us and we sometimes ignore the fact that we are hurting someone else in the process.
Ambition, although on paper a positive trait to have, because it drives you to better yourself and your status in the society you live in may lead to negative outcomes. As in the case of Macbeth, his goal is to become the kings sucessor. It is his and his wifes plan to kill the prince. He may get found out and possible killed for treason. he also draged his wife into the mix putting her life in danger as well as his own.
Many people have the same ideas and I agree, ambition can be good and bad depending on the amount of ambition you have. I like what steven said about ambition in moderation because you need ambition to be successful but too much ambition can cause harm to someone.
I think it is almost impossible to go through life with out hurting someone in trying to reach your goals, no matter what you do weather realizing it or not you are most likely going to hurt someone. I think physically hurting someone is obviously taking it way too far but hurting someone emotionally can be very easy when trying to reach your goals, and sometimes you may not even notice you did it.
I agree with what the majority of people are saying, depending on the amount of ambition you have, and how far you are willing to go and how many people you are willing to hurt in the process of reaching your goal dictate whether or not that ambition is good or not.
I also like what breanna was saying about how although some people may not intentionaly want to hurt someone because of thier ambition, most times it is unavoidable, and people can be indirectly affected by your actions.
i agree with Jordan and Breana on the last two comments. You can't live your life trying not to hurt others. You are inevitably going to hurt someone in your lifetime, well maybe a few someones. All you can do is be your best and better youreself with regards to others but not just thinking about them. you must also think about your self too. Ambition is the drive to accomplish and all want to accomblish, ambition is what you need to get there.
I think it's a little machiavellic to be willing to hurt others in order to achieve your goals. Even if the goal is something really important to you, you can't screw people over to get what you want.
I understand what steven m said about two people's goals colliding. That's when problems begin. This is when ambition could get dangerous and this is when people show their real selves. It's how you handle the situation and how you handle your ambition that's the most important thing. In my opinion, there shouldn't be a limit of how much ambition you can have, you can be the most ambitious person in the world, but it's how you handle it and how you try to achieve your goals that sets you apart from other people.
I would do everything in my power to achieve the goals i have. This doesn't mean I would intend to hurt someone physically or emotionally in the process of that happening. But life sucks, so if my goals collided with someone else's and for some reason i was stronger/luckier/ more ambitious that that person and I got to achieve the goal, while that person didn't... tough luck. We win some, we lose some.
Too far is, for example, running over your boss so you could get his job. Doing ilegal and immoral things in order to get what you want. That's too far and I can't think of anything that's worth even going that far.
By reading Jessie's comment, it really helped me realize the other side to ambition. One simple word could really have so much meaning. Jessie mentioned how in one point in your life or another, you probably are going to hurt someone to try by trying to achieve your goal if you haven't already. It may or may not be because you are an awful person, but sometimes we do things without realizing it until after it's already been done. If your a really determined person, and you set a goal for yourself, it's going to be really hard to let go of it just because of someone else. The thought of "screwing someone over" may pop in your head, and it may not...but whether you do it or not is undeterminable. Sometimes you do things without meaning to because your mind is so stuck on it.
I guess I over looked that entire thought because as a good person, you always want to do the right thing and admitting to doing something harmful to anyone else is really difficult to do. You always want to believe that you'll do the right thing, but we're human and humans make mistakes sometimes.
Looking over people's comments, I think most people are over looking this question way too much. First off, I strongly believe no matter what decisions you make in life, you’re always going to hurt someone. I totally agree with Gina when she says " if you hurt someone along the way I think that’s fine, because if you didn’t hurt them you wouldn’t reach your goal...and overall just hurt yourself." That statement is 100% true. What if you were too concerned tip toeing around other people’s feelings and ended up not achieving your goal? Do you think you would be happy in the end? If I was going after a goal and my ambition drove me to hurt someone BADLY, I would never ever do it. In life people always want the same thing, and if my goal was important enough to me, I would do whatever I have to do to get it. In the end its your life and your ambition shouldn't decide or depend on anyone else’s life or feelings.
I agree with what Amy and Jessie are saying that you will have to hurt someone in order to achieve your goals. But to what extent are you hurting them?
To you it may seem like nothing, but the other person could have a totally different view and feel differently then you do.
I believe that there needs to be an even balance of ambition in a person. When people start stepping on people to achieve their goals, they tend to loose sight of their goals and enjoy taking advantage of people. Soon before they know it, the people will start to hurt too many people even the ones they care for.
First off i agree with mithun in saying that ambition is a good thing to possess as a character trait but having too much ambition is potentially dangerous. im not sure how far i would go to reach some of my personal goals, however if it involved hurting another person i dont believe thats a goal in my life thats worth persuing. Ambition can be a driving force in anybodys personality but when it is so prominent it can lead to someones downfall
afischl talks about tip toeing around others peoples feelings and not achieving your goal. I think she makes a good point in saying this, because although you are going to care about other people, you cant revolve your actions solely around them. You need to do what is best for you, unless it puts the other person in danger of something seriously bad. She also mentions that in life people always want the same thing. You most likely are going to be competing with someone at some point. Theres always going to be a winner and a loser, if you work harder and achieve your goal then your not really hurting them, you just came out on top.
What Gina says is true but if you were to reflect that train of thought against the code of chivalry, we look very selfish and needy. When we talk about doing what is best for ourselves, we are leaving eachother in the dust. It is very debateable whether you should work for yourself or for your community. Yes, working for yourself will build you higher in your community, but working to make your community stronger will build you higher in the world.
Overall, ambition is a good thing, it's just in the way you use it that you need to control.
...coleleexox is me from September 15. my account got messed up so i made a new one =)
along with what Amy and Jesse and Sara said , hurting people is a totally in perspective issue. What i am doing to someone may not seem like it could be hurtful from my point of view, but from their point of view it could be one of the worst things that has ever happened to them. although pain is pain and causing it is wrong to do, it can still affect a person differently than it would someone else. While I agree that ambition can be very good in getting things done, it will not help if it is hurting others.
After looking at some of the other comments my perpective kind of changed a little bit. First off, Amy made a good point of bringing up the idea of "tip-toeing" around everyone elses feelings and being too busy trying not to hurt anyone else. I think this would happen if you try so hard to get at your goals without harming anyone else. And while you're too preoccupied with worrying about other people's feelings, you won't be able to truly get at what you're trying to get. Your decisions and actions you take to get at your dreams will be somewhat based on worrying about how other people feel, and not hurting anyone else.
In addition, I agree with what Sara said about how you kind of have to hurt other people to achieve your dreams. You may not want to intentionally hurt anyone else, but many times it's inevitable. With so many people competing for so many dreams, there's going to be competition among everyone and people will get hurt.
I do believe ambition can be dangerous. When someone really wants to achieve a goal they will achieve it no matter what the consequences are. Like in MacBeth, he is shown as a person who is very violent and loyal. Now that he is closer to becoming King after becoming Thane of Cawdor he is thinking he'll do anything it takes to become King, if that means killing him then he will do it. When peoples dreams are so close that they can taste it, they usually don't use the best of judgement they are going on adrenaline so to speak.
I think that it is definitely a good thing to have ambition. There can be a point where you have too much ambition, like what Ryan was saying about Macbeth wanting to become a king. However, you have to have ambition in life or else everyone else will walk all over you. To a degree, I think I probably would hurt someone because of ambition. If you want a better job that someone above you has, you have to just have some ambition and take it. It doesn't matter if they're your friend or if you absolutely hate them. Sometimes you just have to take what it is that you want, or someone else will and you'll be left with nothing.
Since everyone's opinion is pretty much the same I might sound a little redudant in my response. I think you can only call ambition "dangerous" if the person being driven by this ambition lacks good judgment or rationality. If your so "blinded" by your ambition that you harm others or yourself in the process, than I wouldn't call that initial motivation "ambition" at all.
Some posts have mentioned that, in a competition, working hard and coming out ahead of someone else who wanted the same thing as you is okay. I agree with that but when you gain an unfair advantage over the competition, in whatever way, you hurt people enroute to success. I agree with ariana that you can't "screw people over." Ambition can help people infinitely when you play by the rules. When you don't ambition can become harmful and destructive not only to the competition but also to yourself.
If it were up to me I would hurt someone to pursue my goals because life hurts and when you get hurt you can't sit and cry about it, you have to move on. Part of moving on is to try to beat your opponent to get what you want, or move on to your next goal.
John said when you "gain an unfair advantage over the competition, you hurt people enroute to sucess". I completely agree with this, but you cant easily justify what is fair, and what is foul ;]
If you stop to pursue your goal because someone got hurt then what would be your purpose in life? What is life if you do not have a goal to pursue. Eveybody has to have a goal in life or else there is no point in living. If everytime someone got hurt in the process when you wanted to pursue your goal then you would be a pushover your whole life. You have to be assertive to get what you want.
And i agree with the brilliant man who posted the comment before this one.
I totally agree with mike when he said that you can't just sit around and cry about stuff whenever you don't reach a goal.
That's what life is all about, trying, going after something, failing, and moving onto something else. I think ambition in some ways teach us lessons throughout life. It teaches you to work your hardest to achieve your goals, but also to have some self control. It can be anyone's greatest virtue or a dangerous flaw.
i agree with what colelee said. Basically i agree with what most people said. Ambition is clearly a necessity of life, without it you'll accomplish nothing. The way that ambition can become dangerous is if you use your ambition towards a negative goal.
beacuse no matter what you do you will always hurt someone someway, there shouldn't be a reason not to persue your goal. If you know in the beginning people will get hurt in order for you to reach your goal then you need to deal with the consequences afterwards. I also agree with mike that you shouldnt sit around and cry life goes on.
I agree with john about ambition becoming destructive to yourself and others and with amalia about ambition being your greatest virtue or a dangerous flaw. I believe that there is a point when ambition leads to obsession and you will do absolutely anything you have to to accomplish your goals. Then, it consumes you and that's when you will really hurt the people around you as well as yourself.
um jd i think u meant ariana... not amalia
just saying :)
I kind of have to disagree with you Mike when you say, "If it were up to me I would hurt someone to pursue my goals because life hurts and when you get hurt you can't sit and cry about it." I think your right that it makes no sense to sit around and dwell over something in the past but I disagree with hurting someone to try and get what you want. I don't think that you should ever intentionally harm someone just to get what you want because I see that as being a little self centered if your not taking into consideration how that will affect the person you are harming. I mean how would you like it if someone took a shot at you to get what they wanted? You're telling me that you wouldn't be upset or feel like that was the wrong thing for them to do?
Everyone also has to think of how you would feel after you did something bad to achieve your goals. If you got a good job becuase you got the person fired, did you really earn it? You would have to go to work everyday knowing that you probably were'nt the best person for the job but becuase you wanted it you did whatever possible to get it.
ryan,
way to write about what we talked about in class;)
In all actuallity, I can't think of a better opinion than the first one I had because everyone seems to agree on each others statements.
I read from Jenna's comment that she thinks ambition is an unattainable goal, in agreeance with Patrick. I personally don't agree with her opinion and I believe that if you try your hardest you can achieve anything you put your mind too.
Ambition is a good thing and it can lead to better things later on in your life goals. I personally use my ambition for the better and it helps me strive to reach my goals.
I so agree with Amalia because it is really true. One time in your life you will hurt someone or knock them down because of your ambition and of dreams you want to accomplish in your life. You may not be a bad person and you may not even realize you're hurting the person because your so focused on the task at hand. But I totally agree with that, on the other hand though some people can be just arrogant and rude. But you just can't let that stop you.
Hurting someone in the process of achieving ambition is something that you really can't aviod. After reading peoples comments I relize that and while reading Macbeth, it is also showeds this. Being vernable and being kind dosn't ultimaly give you success, its morally right, but it really dosn't bring success or motivate ambition.
there is a fine line between ambition and selfishness. ambition is when you are working to better yourself, but crosses the line to greed and selfishness when you disregard the wants and ambitions of others.
to reach my goals i would do a lot,anything in my power, but nothing like what Macbeth is contemplating.
since when do Macbeth's goals matter more than the king's, are his ambitions so much more important than others that he has the right to kill?
Teikyo- Although I agree with much of what you say, your comment compels me to reiterate a point I attempted to touch on earlier. Sometimes harming others is the ethical thing to do, sometimes harm has to be done, to prevent harm and to allow growth.
S. Tedeschi- Your use of the phrase "self-centered" implies that people can be something other then self centered. You see the world only as it relates to you, you can only make descisions through that perspective. Your sense of self is literally the origin and metaphorical center of everything you do and every choice you make.
Natalia (from period 8)- Its odd to me when you say "too much ambition can be dangerous". Its odd to me because if it werent dangerous, it wouldnt be too much. So saying too much ambition is dangerous or bad, is like saying orange is orange.
Whitney- Not to question your judgement, but Im not sure you understand my intended point as well as you think you do (which may be my fault).
Becky C- I agree with you for the most part and the things I disagree on may only just be seemingly different to my own opinion.
Jessie- Were always left wanting more, Jessie. This is what keeps us moving, its what stops us from ever being completly satisfied. People arent just hard to completly please, they are impossible to completly please and I wouldnt call that an inherently bad thing. As for the differences between our time and Macbeth's If "all the worlds a stage", then the only thing thats changed in this play is the players, not the plot line. Macbeth is hardly out to satisfy his needs, he is an indulgance man.
Breanna- Your post is agreeable enough that I wont debate it, if you would like to know what debates I would start with you if I cared to, please see my debates directed at Teikyo and Natalia (from period 8).
Mariah- If you truly feel you completly agree with Jesse, then you I suppose I shouldnt have to repeat my comment to her.
Brett M- Im wondering how exactly your defining "hurting someone". Its not nesscesarily physical pain, no? You can hurt someone and not cause them pain. The opposite is also in theory true.
Patrick- Your first post is so agreeable and well phrased, that I have trouble believing the Patrick I know wrote it. I still think Schrodinger's cat is a meaningless concept though.
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