Of Comparison

The news commentator on the radio this morning were saying that there are things that you can't compare. They used the analogy of comparing an apples and oranges.

Well, I disagree. Its true that apples and oranges are physically different. But if you look carefully, at a deeper level, there are some comparable characteristics such as nutritional value, weights, texture etc. They can be compared: apples are crunchier than orange, oranges have higher Vit C compared to apples.

I think its absolutely absurd if someone tells you that there are things that you can't possibly compare. Its just an excuse to make you feel better, an excuse to hide things that you don't want to face. We can still compare our nation with neighbouring countries even though the constitutional and religion background are different. Comparing is about understanding something. Hence, its important to understand how these characteristics interact in order to make a useful comparison.

Only through comparing, we will know what's better and what's not, leading to a better decision. If people are better at making comparison, the world could have been a better place with resources efficiently used. Oh well.