Multiple criteria for success to be encouraged

To build a more energetic society, we should respect people's choices and tolerate different success criteria, according to an article in China Youth Daily.

Excerpts:

Lu Buxuan, a Peking University graduate who became a successful businessman selling pork, apologized for humiliating his alma mater in a speech delivered there.

Meanwhile, Hu Weibin, a college student in Wuhan who formed a company to sell bottled drinking water during his second year at university, thinks it is worth sacrificing studies to earn more than 1 million yuan ($160,000).

Lu's words represent a rigid social mindset. For many people, selling pork is not a decent job for a college graduate, and should not be regarded as a success even if the business does well. Social appraisal has great influence in self-evaluation and may also influence individual choice. Lu's words may probably be due to great social pressure he has been under. In fact, Lu earns a living that depends on his own efforts, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

Such rigid social values may be conveyed to the education system, and have a negative effect on students. Young people will become less creative and take more risks in pursuing an easier route to "success" instead of exploring other possibilities. A mature society should encourage multiple choices and creativity. With multiple success criteria, society can be more vigorous.